Part 237

Fly"er (?), n. [See Flier.] 1. One that uses wings.

2. The fly of a flag: See Fly, n., 6.

3. Anything that is scattered abroad in great numbers as a theatrical programme, an advertising leaf, etc.

4. (Arch.) One in a flight of steps which are parallel to each other(as in ordinary stairs), as distinguished from a winder.

5. The pair of arms attached to the spindle of a spinning frame, over which the thread passes to the bobbin; -- so called from their swift revolution. See Fly, n., 11.

6. The fan wheel that rotates the cap of a windmill as the wind veers. Internat. Cyc.

7. (Stock Jobbing) A small operation not involving ? considerable part of one's capital, or not in the line of one's ordinary business; a venture. Bartlett.

Fly"fish` (?), n. (Zoˆl.) A California scorpÊnoid fish (Sebastichthys rhodochloris), having brilliant colors.

Fly"-fish, v. i. To angle, using flies for bait. Walton.

Fly"ing (?), a. [From Fly, v. i.] Moving in the air with, or as with, wings; moving lightly or rapidly; intended for rapid movement.

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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 (Zoˆl.), a young female kangaroo. -- Flying dragon. (a) (Zoˆl.) 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. (Zoˆl.) See Flying fish, in the Vocabulary. -- Flying fox (Zoˆl.), the colugo. -- Flying frog (Zoˆl.), 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 (Zoˆl.), 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. -- 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. (Zoˆl.) See Colugo. -- Flying level (Civil Engin.), a reconnoissance level over the course of a projected road, canal, etc. -- Flying lizard. (Zoˆl.) See Dragon, n. 6. -- Flying machine, an apparatus for navigating the air; a form of balloon. -- Flying mouse (Zoˆl.), the opossum mouse (Acrobates pygmÊus), of Australia. 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 (Zoˆl.), 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. (Zoˆl.) See Ballooning spider. -- Flying squid (Zoˆl.), 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 (Zoˆl.) 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.

Fly"ing fish` (?). (Zoˆl.) A fish which is able to leap from the water, and fly a considerable distance by means of its large and long pectoral fins. These fishes belong to several species of the genus Exocútus, and are found in the warmer parts of all the oceans.

Fly"ing squir"rel (? or ?). (Zoˆl.) One of a group of squirrels, of the genera Pteromus and Sciuropterus, having parachute-like folds of skin extending from the fore to the hind legs, which enable them to make very long leaps.

The species of Pteromys are large, with bushy tails, and inhabit southern Asia and the East Indies; those of Sciuropterus are smaller, with flat tails, and inhabit the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America. The American species (Sciuropterus volucella) is also called Assapan. The Australian flying squirrels, or flying phalangers, are marsupials. See Flying phalanger (above).

Fly"man (?), n.; pl. Flymen (-men). The driver of a fly, or light public carriage.

Flysch (flsh), n. [A Swiss word, fr. G. fliessen to flow, melt.] (Geol.) A name given to the series of sandstones and schists overlying the true nummulitic formation in the Alps, and included in the Eocene Tertiary.

Fly"speck (fl?'sp?k), n. A speck or stain made by the excrement of a fly; hence, any insignificant dot.

Fly"speck (?), v. t. To soil with flyspecks.

Fly"trap (?), n. 1. A trap for catching flies. 2. (Bot.) A plant (DionÊa muscipula), called also Venus's flytrap, the leaves of which are fringed with stiff bristles, and fold together when certain hairs on their upper surface are touched, thus seizing insects that light on them. The insects so caught are afterwards digested by a secretion from the upper surface of the leaves.

Fnese (?), v. i. [AS. fn&?;san, gefn&?;san.] To breathe heavily; to snort. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Fo (?), n. The Chinese name of Buddha.

Foal (fl), n. [OE. fole, AS. fola; akin to OHG. folo, G. fohlen, Goth. fula, Icel. foli, Sw. fÂle, Gr. pw^los, L. pullus a young animal. Cf. Filly, Poultry, Pullet.] (Zoˆ.) The young of any animal of the Horse family (EquidÊ); a colt; a filly.

Foal teeth (Zoˆl.), the first set of teeth of a horse. -- In foal, With foal, being with young; pregnant; -- said of a mare or she ass.

Foal, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Foaled (fld); p. pr. & vb. n. Foaling.] To bring forth (a colt); -- said of a mare or a she ass.

Foal, v. i. To bring forth young, as an animal of the horse kind.

Foal"foot` (-ft`), n. (Bot.) See Coltsfoot.

Foam (fm), n. [OE. fam, fom, AS. fm; akin to OHG. & G. feim.] The white substance, consisting of an aggregation of bubbles, which is formed on the surface of liquids, or in the mouth of an animal, by violent agitation or fermentation; froth; spume; scum; as, the foam of the sea.