flight
The act of flying.
Adjective
- Fast, swift, fleet.
Origin
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *plew- Proto-Indo-European *plewk- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *pléwketi Proto-Germanic *fleuganą Proto-West Germanic *fleugan Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Germanic *-þiz Proto-West Germanic *-þi Proto-West Germanic *fluhti Old English flyht Middle English flight English flight From Middle English flight, from Old English flyht (“flight”), from Proto-West Germanic *fluhti (“flight”), derived from *fleuganą (“to fly”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to fly”), enlargement of *plew- (“flow”). Analyzable as fly + -t (variant of -th). Cognate with West Frisian flecht (“flight”), Dutch vlucht (“flight”), German Flucht (“flight”) (etymology 2).
Forms
Noun Entry 2
- The act of flying.
- Most birds are capable of flight.
- An instance of flying.
- The migrating birds' flight took them to Africa.
- A collective term for doves or swallows.
- a flight of swallows
- A trip made by an aircraft, particularly one between two cities or countries, which is often planned or reserved in advance.
- The flight to Paris leaves at 7 o'clock tonight.
- Where is the departure gate for flight 747? / Go straight down and to the right.
- He is taking the 5 o' clock flight to London in the morning.
- A series of stairs between landings.
- Limerick terminus has changed but little since its opening, and travellers still ascend the same flight of steps from the forecourt to enter the handsome two-storey stone building, which contains the offices and a...
- She crept up the stairs [...] On she went, across the landing, from which sprang the tall window, and up the next flight until she reached the top. - 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published...
- A group of canal locks with a short distance between them
- A floor which is reached by stairs or escalators.
- How many flights is it up?
- The feathers on an arrow or dart used to help it follow an even path.
- Baſſ. In my ſchoole dayes, when I had loſt one ſhaft / I ſhot his fellow of the ſelfeſame flight / The ſelfeſame way, with more aduiſed watch / To finde the other forth, and by aduenturing both, / I oft found both. I...
- A paper airplane.
- The movement of a spinning ball through the air, with its speed, trajectory and drift.
- The ballistic trajectory of an arrow or other projectile.
- An aerodynamic surface designed to guide such a projectile's trajectory.
Forms
Hyponyms
controlled flight into terrain dark flight direct flight maiden flight red-eye flight space flight spaceflight test flight
Related
Derived
aflight autoflight beer flight black flight bush flight bus-stop flight co-flight controlled flight into terrain death flight electronic flight bag fam flight fight-or-flight fight or flight first flight first flight cover flight archery flight attendant flight bubble flight capital flightcase flight ceiling flight code flight control flight controller
Noun Entry 3
- The act of fleeing.
- take flight
- the flight of a refugee
- Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night, Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight: And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught The Sultán's Turret in a Noose of light. - 1859, Edward Fitzgerald, The Rubáiyát of...
Origin
From Middle English, from Old English flyht, from Proto-West Germanic *fluhti, derived from *fleuhaną (“to flee”). Analyzable as flee + -t (variant of -th). Cognate with Dutch vlucht, German Flucht (etymology 1).
Forms
Related
Derived
Verb
- To throw the ball in such a way that it has more airtime and more spin than usual.
- To throw or kick something so as to send it flying with more loft or airtime than usual.
- Riyad Mahrez flighted the free-kick that followed to the far post and Morgan, with not much finesse but plenty of desire, bundled the ball over the line. Cue pandemonium in the stands. - 2017 March 14, Stuart James,...