flying : Idioms & Phrases

• (Mil.) a body of cavalry and infantry, kept in motion, to cover its own garrisons and to keep the enemy in continual alarm. Farrow.

Webster 1913

• (Mil.), artillery trained to rapid evolutions, the men being either mounted or trained to spring upon the guns and caissons when they change position.

Webster 1913

• . See under Bridge, and Camp.

Webster 1913

• noun a buttress that stands apart from the main structure and connected to it by an arch
  arc-boutant.
  

WordNet

• (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.

Webster 1913

• noun complete success
  flying colours.
  
  • they passed inspection with flying colors

WordNet

• flags unfurled and waving in the air ; hence:

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), a young female kangaroo.

Webster 1913

• noun any of several small tropical Asian lizards capable of gliding by spreading winglike membranes on each side of the body
  flying dragon; dragon.
  

WordNet

• . (a) (Zoöl.) See Dragon, 6. (b) A meteor. See under Dragon.

Webster 1913

• noun the captain of a phantom ship (the Flying Dutchman) who was condemned to sail against the wind until Judgment Day
  
• noun a phantom ship that is said to appear in storms near the Cape of Good Hope
  

WordNet

• . (a) A fabled Dutch mariner condemned for his crimes to sail the seas till the day of judgment. (b) A spectral ship.

Webster 1913

• noun tropical marine fishes having enlarged winglike fins used for brief gliding flight
  

WordNet

• . (Zoöl.) See Flying fish, in the Vocabulary.

Webster 1913

• noun large bat with a head that resembles the head of a fox
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), the colugo.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), 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.

Webster 1913

• noun tropical fish with huge fanlike pectoral fins for underwater gliding; unrelated to searobins
  flying robin; butterflyfish.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), 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. Three species are known; that of the Atlantic is Cephalacanthus volitans.

Webster 1913

• noun the outermost of two or more jibs
  

WordNet

• (Naut.), a sail extended outside of the standing jib, on the flying-jib boom.

Webster 1913

• (Naut.), light sails carried only in fine weather.

Webster 1913

• noun arboreal nocturnal mammal of southeast Asia and the Philippines resembling a lemur and having a fold of skin on each side from neck to tail that is used for long gliding leaps
  flying cat; colugo.
  

WordNet

• . (Zoöl.) See Colugo.

Webster 1913

• (Civil Engin.), a reconnoissance level over the course of a projected road, canal, etc.

Webster 1913

• noun any of several small tropical Asian lizards capable of gliding by spreading winglike membranes on each side of the body
  flying dragon; dragon.
  

WordNet

• . (Zoöl.) See Dragon, n, 6.

Webster 1913

• an apparatus for navigating the air; a form of balloon.

Webster 1913

• noun tiny flying phalanger
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), the opossum mouse (Acrobates pygmæus), of Australia. It has lateral folds of skin, like the flying squirrels.

Webster 1913

• (Mil.), a body of soldiers detailed to hover about an enemy.

Webster 1913

• noun nocturnal phalangers that move with gliding leaps using parachute-like folds of skin along the sides of the body
  flying phalanger; flying opossum.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), 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.

Webster 1913

• the fly of a clock.

Webster 1913

• (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.

Webster 1913

• a shot fired at a moving object, as a bird on the wing.

Webster 1913

• . (Zoöl.) See Ballooning spider.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), an oceanic squid (Ommastrephes, ∨ 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.

Webster 1913

• noun nocturnal phalangers that move with gliding leaps using parachute-like folds of skin along the sides of the body
  flying phalanger; flying opossum.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.) See Flying squirrel, in the Vocabulary.

Webster 1913

• noun a racing start in which the contestants are already in full motion when they pass the starting line
  running start.
  
• noun a quick and auspicious beginning
  running start.
  

WordNet

• a start in a sailing race in which the signal is given while the vessels are under way.

Webster 1913

• (Mil.), a torch attached to a long staff and used for signaling at night.

Webster 1913

• (Naut.), an extension of the jib boom.

Webster 1913

• to be victorious; to succeed thoroughly in an undertaking.

Webster 1913