fly

noun
/ˈflaɪ̯/

Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by having two wings (except for some wingless species), also called .

Other meanings

Especially, any of the insects of the family Muscidae, such as the common housefly (other families of Diptera include mosquitoes and midges).
Those or any similar but not closely related insect, such as a dragonfly, butterfly, or gallfly.

Kinds of fly

blow fly
flesh fly
bee fly
horn fly

Example sentences

“A sticky bird cannot fly.”
Tatoeba · AmarMecheri · CC0
“Do all birds fly?”
Tatoeba · shekitten · CC0
“I don't think I want to see what a fly considers paradise.”
Tatoeba · deniko · CC0

Word history

From Old English "flēge".

Where this comes from

This definition is adapted from “fly” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above; related-word lists use Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0, based on Princeton WordNet), published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.