Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Flying?

\Fly"ing\, a. [From {Fly}, v. i.] Moving in the air with, or as with, wings; moving lightly or rapidly; intended for rapid movement. {Flying army} (Mil.) a body of cavalry and infantry, kept in motion, to cover its own garrisons and to keep the enemy in continual alarm. --Farrow. {Flying artillery} (Mil.), artillery trained to rapid evolutions, -- the men being either mounted or trained to spring upon the guns and caissons when they change position. {Flying bridge}, {Flying camp}. See under {Bridge}, and {Camp}. {Flying buttress} (Arch.), a contrivance for taking up the thrust of a roof or vault which can not be supported by ordinary buttresses. It consists of a straight bar of masonry, usually sloping, carried on an arch, and a solid pier or buttress sufficient to receive the thrust. The word is generally applied only to the straight bar with supporting arch. {Flying colors}, flags unfurled and waving in the air; hence: {To come off with flying colors}, to be victorious; to succeed thoroughly in an undertaking. {Flying doe} (Zo["o]l.), a young female kangaroo. {Flying dragon}. (a) (Zo["o]l.) See {Dragon}, 6. (b) A meteor. See under {Dragon}. {Flying Dutchman}. (a) A fabled Dutch mariner condemned for his crimes to sail the seas till the day of judgment. (b) A spectral ship. {Flying fish}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Flying fish}, in the Vocabulary. {Flying fox} (Zo["o]l.), the colugo. {Flying frog} (Zo["o]l.), an East Indian tree frog of the genus {Rhacophorus}, having very large and broadly webbed feet, which serve as parachutes, and enable it to make very long leaps. {Flying gurnard} (Zo["o]l.), a species of gurnard of the genus {Cephalacanthus} or {Dactylopterus}, with very large pectoral fins, said to be able to fly like the flying fish, but not for so great a distance. Note: Three species are known; that of the Atlantic is {Cephalacanthus volitans}. {Flying jib} (Naut.), a sail extended outside of the standing jib, on the flying-jib boom. {Flying-jib boom} (Naut.), an extension of the jib boom. {Flying kites} (Naut.), light sails carried only in fine weather. {Flying lemur}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Colugo}. {Flying level} (Civil Engin.), a reconnoissance level over the course of a projected road, canal, etc. {Flying lizard}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Dragon}, n. 6. {Flying machine}, an apparatus for navigating the air; a form of balloon. -- {Flying mouse} (Zo["o]l.), the opossum mouse ({Acrobates pygm[ae]us}), of Australia. Note: It has lateral folds of skin, like the flying squirrels. -- {Flying party} (Mil.), a body of soldiers detailed to hover about an enemy. -- {Flying phalanger} (Zo["o]l.), one of several species of small marsuupials of the genera {Petaurus} and {Belideus}, of Australia and New Guinea, having lateral folds like those of the flying squirrels. The sugar squirrel ({B. sciureus}), and the ariel ({B. ariel}), are the best known; -- called also {squirrel petaurus} and {flying squirrel}. See {Sugar squirrel}. -- {Flying pinion}, the fly of a clock. -- {Flying sap} (Mil.), the rapid construction of trenches (when the enemy's fire of case shot precludes the method of simple trenching), by means of gabions placed in juxtaposition and filled with earth. -- {Flying shot}, a shot fired at a moving object, as a bird on the wing. -- {Flying spider}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Ballooning spider}. -- {Flying squid} (Zo["o]l.), an oceanic squid ({Ommastrephes, or Sthenoteuthis, Bartramii}), abundant in the Gulf Stream, which is able to leap out of the water with such force that it often falls on the deck of a vessel. -- {Flying squirrel} (Zo["o]l.) See {Flying squirrel}, in the Vocabulary. -- {Flying start}, a start in a sailing race in which the signal is given while the vessels are under way. -- {Flying torch} (Mil.), a torch attached to a long staff and used for signaling at night.