flight
/ˈflaɪ̯t/ noun, adjective, verb
Forms flights flighting flighted
- noun The act of flying; the ability to fly. “Most birds are capable of flight.”
- noun An instance of flying. “The migrating birds' flight took them to Africa.”
- noun The trajectory or passage through air or space of a projectile, ship, etc. “The space shuttle's flight was carefully calculated long before takeoff.”
- noun A swift movement, especially as to escape; an escape. “The lizard's immediate flight when startled makes it hard to catch.”
- noun 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.”
- noun The aircraft used in a journey through air or space. “He boarded the flight to Miami.”
- noun (cricket) The movement of a spinning ball through the air from the bowler to where it bounces on the pitch.
- noun (figurative) An episode of imaginative thinking or dreaming. “a flight of fancy; a flight of the imagination”
- adjective (obsolete) Fast, swift, fleet.
- verb (cricket, of a spin bowler) To throw the ball in such a way that it has more airtime and more spin than usual.
- verb (sports, by extension, transitive) To throw or kick something so as to send it flying with more loft or airtime than usual.
- noun The act of fleeing.
Synonyms
flock flying flight of stairs flight of steps escape trajectory fledge
Etymology
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).
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).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The act or flying; a passing through the air by the help of wings; volitation; mode or style of flying.
- noun The act of fleeing; the act of running away, to escape or expected evil; hasty departure.
Etymology [AS. fliht, flyht, a flying, fr. fleógan to fly; cf. flyht a fleeing, fr. fleón to flee, G. flucht a fleeing, Sw. flykt, G. flug a flying, Sw. flygt, D. vlugt a fleeing or flying, Dan. flugt. sq. root84. See Flee, Fly.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “flight”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details