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# fly

«fly» in Mova's school dictionary: **to move through the air with wings, like a bird, an…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (fly, flies, flew, flown, flying); noun (a fly, flies)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To fly is to move through the air with wings, like a bird, an insect or a plane. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fly/#m1)

2) To fly is to travel by plane, or to make a kite, plane or drone move in the air. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fly/#m2)

3) A fly is a small insect with two wings, like a housefly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fly/#m3)

4) A flag flies when it is up on a pole. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fly/#m4)

5) Time flies when it passes very quickly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fly/#m5)

6) The fly on trousers is the opening with a zip. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fly/#m6)

### sense in the lessons

In school maths: an action with distance, speed and time (a plane flies 500 km an hour); birds that fly away leave the group, birds that fly in join it; flies can be counted. In science: birds, bats and insects fly; flies have 6 legs; how planes stay up. In everyday life: flying to see family, flying a kite. Phrases: «fly away», «fly a kite», «time flies», «on the fly», «wouldn't hurt a fly» (is very gentle).

### examples

- A plane flies 300 miles in an hour. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fly/#x1)
- 6 birds fly away from the tree. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fly/#x2)
- 4 more birds fly in. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fly/#x3)
- A frog catches 12 flies. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fly/#x4)
- We flew to Dublin to see my cousins. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fly/#x5)
- Let's fly my kite on the hill. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fly/#x6)
- A fly has 6 legs like all insects. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fly/#x7)
- Time flies when you're having fun! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fly/#x8)
- “Shall we swim or fly, Peter?” [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fly/#x9)

### note

Past «flew», past participle «flown»; he/she «flies». Plural of the insect «flies». Maths: «fly away» takes away from a group, «fly in» adds. With «per hour» it is a speed: distance = speed × time. Trap: a fly is an insect with 6 legs, but a spider is not.

### In the corpora

- [A plane flying over or a camera wobble can mean another take, so many takes do not mean bad acting.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/22-how-films-are-made-script-crew-sets-editing/10/)
- [Elephants sometimes use tools, such as a stick to scratch an itch or a leafy branch to swat flies.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/21-elephants-the-trunk/16/)
- [Every zebra has its own stripe pattern, and the best evidence says the stripes help keep biting flies from landing.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/25-horses-zebras-and-donkeys/11/)
- [Bumblebees warm up by shivering their flight muscles, so they can fly on cold spring mornings when honeybees cannot.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/36-insects-six-legs-ants-bees-and-wasps/17/)
- [Butterflies and flies taste with their feet, so a red admiral landing on a rotting plum is tasting it as it lands.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/37-butterflies-beetles-flies-mosquitoes-grasshoppers/1/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «fly» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fly/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.