flying
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flying¹
- /ˈflaɪ.ɪŋ/
Rhymes with -aɪɪŋ
Where it comes from
From Middle English fleynge, fleeʒinge, flihinde, vlyinde, vleoinde, flyand,
ffleghand, flighand (also fleoninde, fleonninde, etc.), from Old English flēogende, from Proto-Germanic *fleugandz (“flying”), present participle of Proto-Germanic *fleuganą (“to fly”), equivalent to fly + -ing. Cognate with Saterland Frisian fljoogend (“flying”), West Frisian fleanend (“flying”), Dutch vliegend (“flying”), German Low German flegend (“flying”), German fliegend (“flying”), Danish flyvende (“flying”), Swedish flygande (“flying”), Icelandic fljúgandi (“flying”).
adjective
-
That flies or can fly.
flying fox
Similar: winged · Opposite: flightless
- Brief or hurried. flying visit
-
Capable of moving rapidly; highly mobile.
flying column
Similar: winged
- Not secured by yards.
- Capable of foiling. Flying ferries are the watercraft of the future!
- Designating a cattle brand consisting of a letter extended on both sides with tilde-like curved lines. He brands his cow W (flying W) or — (two-bar).
- Being able to glide through the air. flying squirrel
verb
- present participle and gerund of fly
flying²
- /ˈflaɪ.ɪŋ/
Rhymes with -aɪɪŋ
Where it comes from
From Middle English flyinge, fleyng, fleyinge, fleynge, fleghyng, fleiʒeyng, flyeghynge, equivalent to fly + -ing. Cognate with Danish flyvning (“flying”), Swedish flygning (“flying”), Norwegian flyvning, flygning, flyging, flying (“flying”).
noun flyings
- An act of flight. "Flyings" could vary considerably in complexity and lavishness and could involve an actor or property being either lifted from the stage into the flies above or vice versa. As Colin Visser has observed, flyings and sinkings are both "associated with supernatural manifestations of various kinds" […]
- The action or process of sustained motion through the air. His seconde hawke wexyd gery And was with flyenge wery. She had flowyn so oft, That on the rode loft She perkyd her to rest.
-
The action of sustained hydrodynamic lift on hydrofoils lifting the vessel hull lifted out of the water, for sustained motion across water.
Similar: foiling, hydrofoiling
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: flight, mobile, flaring, aflare, moving, waving, running, fluttering, quick, air, hurried, fast, winged, fast-flying, flyer, inflight
Translations
Talk about this word "flying." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/flying. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. flying. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/flying "flying." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/flying.Cite this
@misc{flying_2026,
title = {flying},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/flying},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
