fly
[ˈflɑ̟ɪ̯]
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.75 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by having two wings (except for some wingless species), also called true flies.
noun
Especially, any of the insects of the family Muscidae, such as the common housefly (other families of Diptera include mosquitoes and midges).
noun
Those or any similar but not closely related insect, such as a dragonfly, butterfly, or gallfly.
noun
A lightweight fishing lure resembling an insect.
noun
A chest exercise performed by moving extended arms from the sides to in front of the chest. (also flye)
noun
The butterfly stroke (plural is normally flys).
Example Sentences
- "Devils Lake is where I began my career as a limnologist in 1964, studying the lake’s neotenic salamanders and chironomids, or midge flies. […] The Devils Lake Basin is an endorheic, or closed, basin covering about 9,800 square kilometers in northeastern North Dakota."
- "When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose. And the queerer the cure for those ailings the bigger the attraction. A place like the Right Livers' Rest was bound to draw freaks, same as molasses draws flies."
- "October in Orania can be charming. When the sun sets, long ribbons of burnt orange settle on the horizon. The flies and mosquitoes that come with the oppressive summer heat haven’t arrived yet. It is Magdalene Kleynhans’ favourite time of year. “You can sit outside until late into the night,” says the businesswoman, whose family spend much of their time outdoors. Her children fish from the banks of the Orange River whenever they choose. Kleynhans leaves the house unlocked. “It’s a good life. It’s a big privilege.”"
- "I went on trying for fish along the western bank down the river, but only small trout rose at my flies, and a score was the total catch."
- "a trifling fly, none of your great familiars"
- "The fly that plays too near the flame burns in it."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *plew- Proto-Indo-European *plewk- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *pléwketi Proto-Germanic *fleuganądeverb. Proto-Germanic *fleugǭ Proto-West Germanic *fleugā Old English flēoge Middle English flye English fly From Middle English fflye, flehe, flei, fleie, fley, fleye, fleȝe, flie, fliȝe, flye, vliȝe, vlye, from Old English flēge, flēoge, flīeġe (“a fly”), from Proto-West Germanic *fleugā, from Proto-Germanic *fleugǭ (“a fly”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to flow, fly, run; to splash”), enlargement of *plew- (“to flow, fly, run”). Cognates Cognate with Scots flee, flei (“fly”), North Frisian fleeg (“fly”), Saterland Frisian Fljooge (“fly”), Alemannic German Flüüge (“fly”), Cimbrian blòiga, vlòiga (“fly”), Dutch vlieg (“fly”), German Fliege (“fly”), Low German Fleeg (“fly”), Vilamovian fłig, fłyjǵ (“fly”), Yiddish פֿליג (flig, “fly”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål flue (“fly”), Faroese, Icelandic, and Swedish fluga (“fly”), Norwegian Nynorsk fluga, fluge, fluggu, flugu (“fly”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: fflye, flēge, *fleugā, *fleugǭ, *plewk-, flei
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: [ˈflɑ̟ɪ̯]
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Law.