Fly
True flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- di- “two”, and πτερόν pteron “wings”. Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced mechanosensory organs known as halteres, which act as high-speed sensors of rotational movement and allow dipterans to perform advanced aerobatics. Diptera is a large order containing an estimated 1,000,000 species including horse-flies, crane flies, hoverflies and others, although only about 125,000 species have been described.Flies have a mobile head, with a pair of large compound eyes, and mouthparts designed for piercing and sucking (mosquitoes, black flies and robber flies), or for lapping and sucking in the other groups. Their wing arrangement gives them great maneuverability in flight, and claws and pads on their feet enable them to cling to smooth surfaces. Flies undergo complete metamorphosis; the eggs are laid on the larval food-source and the larvae, which lack true limbs, develop in a protected environment, often inside their food source. The pupa is a tough capsule from which the adult emerges when ready to do so; flies mostly have short lives as adults.
Diptera is one of the major insect orders and of considerable ecological and human importance. Flies are important pollinators, second only to the bees and their Hymenopteran relatives. Flies may have been among the evolutionarily earliest pollinators responsible for early plant pollination. Fruit flies are used as model organisms in research, but less benignly, mosquitoes are vectors for malaria, dengue, West Nile fever, yellow fever, encephalitis, and other infectious diseases; and houseflies, commensal with humans all over the world, spread food-borne illnesses. Flies can be annoyances especially in some parts of the world where they can occur in large numbers, buzzing and settling on the skin or eyes to bite or seek fluids. Larger flies such as tsetse flies and screwworms cause significant economic harm to cattle. Blowfly larvae, known as gentles, and other dipteran larvae, known more generally as maggots, are used as fishing bait and as food for carnivorous animals. They are also used in medicine in debridement to clean wounds.
Fly (noun)
Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by having two wings (except for some wingless species), also called true flies.
Fly (noun)
Especially, any of the insects of the family Muscidae, such as the common housefly (other families of Diptera include mosquitoes and midges).
Fly (noun)
Any similar, but unrelated insect such as dragonfly or butterfly.
Fly (noun)
A lightweight fishing resembling an insect.
Fly (noun)
A chest exercise performed by moving extended arms from the sides to in front of the chest. (also flye)
Fly (noun)
A witch’s familiar.
Fly (noun)
A parasite.
Fly (noun)
The butterfly stroke (plural is normally flys)
Fly (noun)
A simple shaken in the air, popular in the 1960s.
Fly (noun)
The action of flying; flight.
Fly (noun)
An act of flying.
“We had a quick half-hour fly back into the city.”
“There was a good wind, so I decided to give the kite a fly.”
Fly (noun)
A fly ball.
Fly (noun)
A type of small, fast carriage (sometimes pluralised flys).
Fly (noun)
A piece of canvas that covers the opening at the front of a tent.
Fly (noun)
A strip of material (sometimes hiding zippers or buttons) at the front of a pair of trousers, pants, underpants, bootees, etc.
“Ha-ha! Your flies are undone!”
Fly (noun)
The free edge of a flag.
Fly (noun)
The horizontal length of a flag.
Fly (noun)
An exercise that involves wide opening and closing of the arms perpendicular to the shoulders.
Fly (noun)
The part of a vane pointing the direction from which the wind blows.
Fly (noun)
That part of a compass on which the points are marked; the compass card.
Fly (noun)
Two or more vanes set on a revolving axis, to act as a fanner, or to equalize or impede the motion of machinery by the resistance of the air, as in the striking part of a clock.
Fly (noun)
A heavy wheel, or cross arms with weights at the ends on a revolving axis, to regulate or equalize the motion of machinery by means of its inertia, where the power communicated, or the resistance to be overcome, is variable, as in the steam engine or the coining press. See flywheel.
Fly (noun)
A light horse-drawn carriage that can be hired for transportation.
Fly (noun)
In a knitting machine, the piece hinged to the needle, which holds the engaged loop in position while the needle is penetrating another loop; a latch.
Fly (noun)
The pair of arms revolving around the bobbin, in a spinning wheel or spinning frame, to twist the yarn.
Fly (noun)
A shuttle driven through the shed by a blow or jerk.
Fly (noun)
The person who took the printed sheets from the press.
Fly (noun)
A vibrating frame with fingers, attached to a power printing press for doing the same work.
Fly (noun)
One of the upper screens of a stage in a theatre.
Fly (noun)
waste cotton
Fly (noun)
A wing.
“The bullet barely grazed the wild fowl’s fly.”
Fly (verb)
To travel through the air, another gas{{,}} or a vacuum, without being in contact with a grounded surface.
“Birds of passage fly to warmer regions as it gets colder in winter.”
“The Concorde flew from Paris to New York faster than any other passenger airplane.”
“It takes about eleven hours to fly from Frankfurt to Hongkong.”
“The little fairy flew home on the back of her friend, the giant eagle.”
Fly (verb)
To flee, to escape (from).
“Fly, my lord! The enemy are upon us!”
Fly (verb)
To cause to fly travel or float in the air: to transport via air or the like.
“Charles Lindbergh flew his airplane The Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic ocean.”
“Why don’t you go outside and fly kites, kids? The wind is just perfect.”
“Birds fly their prey to their nest to feed it to their young.”
“Each day the post flies thousands of letters around the globe.”
Fly (verb)
To be accepted, come about or work out.
“Let’s see if that idea flies.”
“You know, I just don’t think that’s going to fly. Why don’t you spend your time on something better?”
Fly (verb)
To travel very fast, hasten.
Fly (verb)
To move suddenly, or with violence; to do an act suddenly or swiftly.
“a door flies open;”
“a bomb flies apart”
Fly (verb)
To display (a flag) on a flagpole.
Fly (verb)
To hunt with a hawk.
Fly (verb)
To hit a fly ball; to hit a fly ball that is caught for an out. Compare ground (verb) and line (verb).
“Jones flied to right in his last at-bat.”
Fly (adjective)
Quick-witted, alert, mentally sharp.
Fly (adjective)
Well dressed, smart in appearance; in style, cool.
“He’s pretty fly.”
Fly (adjective)
Beautiful; displaying physical beauty.
Fly (adjective)
Sneaky
Swap (verb)
To exchange or give (something) in an exchange (for something else).
“exchange|switch|trade”
Swap (verb)
To hit, to strike.
Swap (verb)
To beat the air, or ply the wings, with a sweeping flap.
Swap (verb)
To fall; to rush hastily or violently.
Swap (noun)
An exchange of two comparable things.
“quote-book|lang=en|1819|{{w|Sir Walter Scott|w|Tales of My Landlord|section=The Bride of Lammermoor|passage=I e’en changed it, as occasion served, with the skippers o’ Dutch luggers and French vessels, for gin and brandy… a gude swap too, between what cheereth the soul of man and that which dingeth it clean out of his body}}”
Swap (noun)
A financial derivative in which two parties agree to exchange one stream of cashflow against another stream.
Swap (noun)
Space available in a swap file for use as auxiliary memory.
“How much swap do you need?”
Swap (noun)
A blow; a stroke.
Swap (verb)
take part in an exchange of
“we swapped phone numbers”
“I’d swap places with you any day”
“I was wondering if you’d like to swap with me”
Swap (verb)
give (one thing) and receive something else in exchange
“swap one of your sandwiches for a cheese and pickle?”
Swap (verb)
substitute (one thing) for another
“I swapped my busy life in London for a peaceful village retreat”
Swap (noun)
an act of exchanging one thing for another
“let’s do a swap”
Swap (noun)
a thing that has been or may be given in exchange for something else
“I’ve got one already, but I’ll keep this as a swap”
Swap (noun)
an exchange of liabilities between two borrowers, either so that each acquires access to funds in a currency they need or so that a fixed interest rate is exchanged for a floating rate.
