different between fly vs tear

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: fl?, IPA^(key): /fla?/
• Rhymes: -a?

Etymology 1

From Middle English flye, flie, from Old English fl??e, fl?oge (“a fly”), from Proto-Germanic *fleug? (“a fly”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to fly”). Cognate with Scots flee, Saterland Frisian Fljooge, Dutch vlieg, German Low German Fleeg, German Fliege, Danish flue, Norwegian Bokmål flue, Norwegian Nynorsk fluge, Swedish fluga, Icelandic fluga.

Noun

fly (plural flies)

1. (zoology) Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by having two wings (except for some wingless species), also called true flies.
2. (non-technical) Especially, any of the insects of the family Muscidae, such as the common housefly (other families of Diptera include mosquitoes and midges).
3. Any similar, but unrelated insect such as dragonfly or butterfly.
5. (fishing) A lightweight fishing lure resembling an insect.
6. (weightlifting) A chest exercise performed by moving extended arms from the sides to in front of the chest. (also flye)
7. (obsolete) A witch's familiar.
   • 1610, Ben Jonson, The Alchemist

     a trifling fly, none of your great familiars

8. (obsolete) A parasite.
9. (swimming) The butterfly stroke (plural is normally flys)
10. (preceded by definite article) A simple dance in which the hands are shaken in the air, popular in the 1960s.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• fly on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Muscidae on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Etymology 2

From Middle English flien, from Old English fl?ogan, from Proto-Germanic *fleugan? (compare Saterland Frisian fljooge, Dutch vliegen, Low German flegen, German fliegen, Danish flyve, Norwegian Nynorsk flyga), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (*plew-k-, “to fly”) (compare Lithuanian pla?kti ‘to swim’), enlargement of *plew- (“flow”). More at flee and flow.

Verb

fly (third-person singular simple present flies, present participle flying, simple past flew, past participle flown)

1. (intransitive) To travel through the air, another gas, or a vacuum, without being in contact with a grounded surface.
   • 1909, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Orthodoxy

     Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.

2. (transitive, intransitive, archaic, poetic) To flee, to escape (from).

   • Sleep flies the wretch.

   • 1954, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

     He staggered and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss. “Fly, you fools!” he cried, and was gone.

3. (transitive, ergative) To cause to fly (travel or float in the air): to transport via air or the like.

   • The brave black flag I fly.

4. (intransitive) To travel or proceed very fast; to hasten.

   He flew down the hill on his bicycle.

   It's five o'clock already. Doesn't time fly!

   • 1645, John Milton, On Time

     Fly, envious Time, till thou run out thy race.

   • 1870, William Cullen Bryant (translator), The Iliad (originally by Homer)

     The dark waves murmured as the ship flew on.
5. To move suddenly, or with violence; to do an act suddenly or swiftly.
6. (intransitive) To proceed with great success.

   His career is really flying at the moment.

   One moment the company was flying high, the next it was on its knees.

7. (intransitive, colloquial, of a proposal, project or idea) To be accepted, come about or work out.

8. (transitive, ergative) To display (a flag) on a flagpole.
9. To hunt with a hawk.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (travel through air): soar, hover, wing, skim, glide, ascend, rise, float, aviate
• (flee): escape, flee, abscond; see also Thesaurus:flee
• (travel very fast): dart, flit; see also Thesaurus:move quickly
• (do an act suddenly): hurry, zoom; see also Thesaurus:rush

Antonyms

• (travel through air): walk
• (flee): remain, stay
• (travel very fast): see also Thesaurus:move slowly

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• fly agaric
• flight

Translations

Noun

fly (plural flys or flies)

1. (obsolete) The action of flying; flight.
2. An act of flying.

3. (baseball) A fly ball.
4. (now historical) A type of small, fast carriage (sometimes pluralised flys).
   • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Folio Society 2008, page 124:

     As we left the house in my fly, which had been waiting, Van Helsing said:— ‘Tonight I can sleep in peace [...].’

   • 1924, Ford Madox Ford, Some Do Not…, Penguin 2012 (Parade's End), page 54:

     And, driving back in the fly, Macmaster said to himself that you couldn't call Mrs. Duchemin ordinary, at least.

5. A piece of canvas that covers the opening at the front of a tent.
7. (often plural) A strip of material (sometimes hiding zippers or buttons) at the front of a pair of trousers, pants, underpants, bootees, etc.

   Ha-ha! Your flies are undone!

   • February 2014 Y-Front Fly

     Y-Front is a registered trademark for a special front fly turned upside down to form a Y owned by Jockey® International. The first Y-Front® brief was created by Jockey® more than 70 years ago.

   • June 2014 The Hole In Men’s Underwear: Name And Purpose

     Briefs were given an opening in the front. The point of this opening (the ‘fly’) was to make it easier to pee with clothes on

8. The free edge of a flag.
9. The horizontal length of a flag.
10. (weightlifting) An exercise that involves wide opening and closing of the arms perpendicular to the shoulders.
11. The part of a vane pointing the direction from which the wind blows.
12. (nautical) That part of a compass on which the points are marked; the compass card.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Totten to this entry?)

13. Two or more vanes set on a revolving axis, to act as a fanner, or to equalize or impede the motion of machinery by the resistance of the air, as in the striking part of a clock.
14. Short for flywheel.
15. (historical) A light horse-drawn carriage that can be hired for transportation.
    • 1859, Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White:

      Can I get a fly, or a carriage of any kind? Is it too late?

      I dismissed the fly a mile distant from the park, and getting my directions from the driver, proceeded by myself to the house.

    • 1861, Henry Mayhew and William Tuckniss, London Labour and the London Poor: A Cyclopœdia of the Condition and Earnings of Those that Will Work, Those that Cannot Work, and Those that Will Not Work, Volume 3, p. 359:

      A glass coach, it may be as well to observe, is a carriage and pair hired by the day, and a fly a one-horse carriage hired in a similar manner.

16. In a knitting machine, the piece hinged to the needle, which holds the engaged loop in position while the needle is penetrating another loop; a latch.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

17. The pair of arms revolving around the bobbin, in a spinning wheel or spinning frame, to twist the yarn.
18. (weaving) A shuttle driven through the shed by a blow or jerk.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

19. (printing, historical) The person who took the printed sheets from the press.
20. (printing, historical) A vibrating frame with fingers, attached to a power printing press for doing the same work.
21. One of the upper screens of a stage in a theatre.
22. (cotton manufacture) waste cotton

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

fly (third-person singular simple present flies, present participle flying, simple past and past participle flied)

1. (intransitive, baseball) To hit a fly ball; to hit a fly ball that is caught for an out. Compare ground (verb) and line (verb).

   Jones flied to right in his last at-bat.

Translations

Etymology 3

Origin uncertain; probably from the verb or noun.

Adjective

fly (comparative flier, superlative fliest)

1. (slang, dated) Quick-witted, alert, mentally sharp.
2. (slang) Well dressed, smart in appearance; in style, cool.
3. (slang) Beautiful; displaying physical beauty.

Translations

Etymology 4

Related to German Flügel (“a wing”), Dutch vleugel (“a wing”), Swedish flygel (“a wing”).

Noun

fly (plural flies)

1. (rural, Scotland, Northern England) A wing.

References

• fly at OneLook Dictionary Search
• The Dictionary of the Scots Language

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?fly?]

Etymology 1

An abbreviation of flyvemaskine, after Norwegian fly and Swedish flyg.

Noun

fly n (singular definite flyet, plural indefinite fly)

1. airplane

Inflection

Synonyms

• flyvemaskine c
• flyver c

Etymology 2

From Old Norse flýja (“to flee”), from Proto-Germanic *fleuhan?, cognate with English flee, German fliehen, Dutch vlieden.

Verb

fly (present flyr or flyer, past tense flyede, past participle flyet)

1. (archaic) to flee
2. (archaic) to shun

Inflection

Etymology 3

From Middle Low German vl?(g)en (“to stack, sort out”), cognate with Dutch vlijen (“to place”), from Proto-Germanic *fl?han, of unknown ultimate origin; possibly related to the root of *flaihijan (“to be sly, to flatter”), though the semantic gap is wide.

Verb

fly (present flyr or flyer, past tense flyede, past participle flyet)

1. (archaic) to hand, give

Inflection

References

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fly?/

Etymology 1

Short form of flygemaskin

Noun

fly n (definite singular flyet, indefinite plural fly, definite plural flya or flyene)

1. plane, aeroplane (UK), airplane (US), aircraft

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Old Norse fljúga

Alternative forms

• flyge

Verb

fly (imperative fly, present tense flyr, simple past fløy, past participle flydd or fløyet)

1. to fly

Derived terms

• glidefly

References

• “fly” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fly?/ (example of pronunciation)

Etymology 1

Clipping of flygemaskin (“flying machine”).

Noun

fly n (definite singular flyet, indefinite plural fly, definite plural flya)

2. plane, aeroplane (UK), airplane (US), aircraft

   Skunda deg, elles misser du flyet ditt!

   Hurry up, or you'll miss your plane!

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Old Norse fljúga, from Proto-Germanic *fleugan?.

Alternative forms

• fljuga, fljuge, flyga, flyge

Verb

fly (present tense flyr or flyg, past tense flaug, supine floge, past participle flogen, present participle flygande, imperative fly or flyg)

2. (intransitive) to fly (to travel through air, another gas or a vacuum, without being in contact with a grounded surface)
3. (transitive, ergative) to cause to fly: to transport via air or the like
4. (intransitive) to run, move fast
5. (intransitive, chiefly about farm animals) to be in heat, rutting

Derived terms

Related terms

• fløygje

Adjective

fly (masculine and feminine fly, neuter flytt, definite singular and plural flye, comparative flyare, indefinite superlative flyast, definite superlative flyaste)

1. very steep

Noun

fly n (definite singular flyet, indefinite plural fly, definite plural flya)

1. a very steep cliff

Etymology 3

From Old Norse flýja, from Proto-Germanic *fleuhan?.

Verb

fly (present tense flyr, past tense flydde, past participle flydd/flytt, passive infinitive flyast, present participle flyande, imperative fly)

2. (intransitive) to escape; flee; run away

   Synonym: flykte

4. (transitive) to escape from

Etymology 4

Clipping of flygande (“flying”), present participle of fly.

Adverb

fly

1. (colloquial) Used as an intensifier for the word forbanna

   Han vart fly forbanna.

Etymology 5

Confer with flye n (“flying insect”) and English fly.

Noun

fly f (definite singular flya, indefinite plural flyer, definite plural flyene)

1. small (flying) insect
2. (fishing) bait

Etymology 6

Noun

fly f (definite singular flya, indefinite plural flyer, definite plural flyene)

1. specks

   Synonyms: rusk, grann

Etymology 7

Noun

fly f (definite singular flya, indefinite plural flyer, definite plural flyene)

1. mountain plateau

   Synonyms: vidde, fjellvidde

Etymology 8

Of uncertain origin, though may be related to flyta (“to float”).

Noun

fly n (definite singular flyet, indefinite plural fly, definite plural flya)

1. sump

Etymology 9

Related to, or possibly a doublet of flø, from Old Norse flór.

Adjective

fly (masculine and feminine fly, neuter flytt, definite singular and plural flye, comparative flyare, indefinite superlative flyast, definite superlative flyaste)

2. tepid

References

• “fly” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
• Ivar Aasen (1850) , “fly”, in Ordbog over det norske Folkesprog, Oslo: Samlaget, published 2000

Anagrams

• fyl

Scots

Adjective

fly

1. (slang, chiefly Doric) sneaky

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish fl?ia, fl?a, from Old Norse flýja, from Proto-Germanic *fleuhan?.

Pronunciation

Verb

fly (present flyr, preterite flydde, supine flytt, imperative fly)

1. to flee, to run away, to escape

2. to pass, to go by (of time)
   • 1964, Gunnel Vallquist, title of the new Swedish translation of Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu

     På spaning efter den tid som flytt

     In Search of Lost Time

   • 1965, Sven-Ingvars, Börja om från början

     Varför ska man sörja tider som har flytt?

     Why should one feel sorry for times that have passed?

Conjugation

Related terms

• flykt
• flykting

Westrobothnian

Verb

fly

1. to send, to hand

   fly me s?ksa

   hand me the scissors

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English teren, from Old English teran (“to tear, lacerate”), from Proto-Germanic *teran? (“to tear, tear apart, rip”), from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to tear, tear apart”). Cognate with Scots tere, teir, tair (“to rend, lacerate, wound, rip, tear out”), Dutch teren (“to eliminate, efface, live, survive by consumption”), German zehren (“to consume, misuse”), German zerren (“to tug, rip, tear”), Danish tære (“to consume”), Swedish tära (“to fret, consume, deplete, use up”), Icelandic tæra (“to clear, corrode”). Outside Germanic, cognate to Ancient Greek ???? (dér?, “to skin”), Albanian ther (“to slay, skin, pierce”). Doublet of tire.

Pronunciation 1

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: tâ, IPA^(key): /t??/
• (US) enPR: târ, IPA^(key): /t??/
• Rhymes: -??(?)
• Homophone: tare

Verb

tear (third-person singular simple present tears, present participle tearing, simple past tore, past participle torn or (now colloquial and nonstandard) tore)

2. (transitive) To rend (a solid material) by holding or restraining in two places and pulling apart, whether intentionally or not; to destroy or separate.
   • 1886, Eleanor Marx-Aveling, translator, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, 1856, Part III Chapter XI,

     He suffered, poor man, at seeing her so badly dressed, with laceless boots, and the arm-holes of her pinafore torn down to the hips; for the charwoman took no care of her.

3. (transitive) To injure as if by pulling apart.

4. (transitive) To destroy or reduce abstract unity or coherence, such as social, political or emotional.

5. (transitive) To make (an opening) with force or energy.

6. (transitive, often with off or out) To remove by tearing.

7. (transitive, of structures, with down) To demolish

8. (intransitive) To become torn, especially accidentally.

9. (intransitive) To move or act with great speed, energy, or violence.
   • 2019, Lana Del Rey, "Hope Is a Dangerous Thing":

     I've been tearing around in my fucking nightgown. 24/7 Sylvia Plath.

10. (intransitive) To smash or enter something with great force.

Synonyms

• (break): rend, rip
• (remove by tearing): rip out, tear off, tear out

Related terms

Translations

Noun

tear (plural tears)

1. A hole or break caused by tearing.

   A small tear is easy to mend, if it is on the seam.

2. (slang) A rampage.

   to go on a tear

Derived terms

• on a tear
• wear and tear

Translations

Derived terms

• tearsheet

Etymology 2

From Middle English teer, ter, tere, tear, from Old English t?ar, t?r, tæhher, teagor, *teahor (“drop; tear; what is distilled from anything in drops, nectar”), from Proto-West Germanic *tah(h)r, from Proto-Germanic *tahr? (“tear”), from Proto-Indo-European *dá?ru- (“tears”).

Cognates include Old Norse tár (Danish tåre and Norwegian tåre), Old High German zahar (German Zähre), Gothic ???????????????? (tagr), Irish deoir and Latin lacrima.

Pronunciation 2

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: tî, IPA^(key): /t??/
• (General American) enPR: tîr, IPA^(key): /t??/
• Homophone: tier (layer or rank)

Noun

tear (plural tears)

2. A drop of clear, salty liquid produced from the eyes by crying or irritation.
3. Something in the form of a transparent drop of fluid matter; also, a solid, transparent, tear-shaped drop, as of some balsams or resins.
4. (glass manufacture) A partially vitrified bit of clay in glass.
5. That which causes or accompanies tears; a lament; a dirge.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

tear (third-person singular simple present tears, present participle tearing, simple past and past participle teared)

1. (intransitive) To produce tears.

   Her eyes began to tear in the harsh wind.

Translations

Anagrams

• 'eart, Ater, Reta, aret, arte-, rate, tare, tera-

Galician

Etymology

Tea (“cloth”) +? -ar. Compare Portuguese tear and Spanish telar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /te?a?/

Noun

tear m (plural teares)

1. loom

References

• “tear” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
• “tear” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “tear” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Middle English

Noun

tear

1. (Early Middle English) Alternative form of tere (“tear”)

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *tah(h)r, from Proto-Germanic *tahr?.

Germanic cognates include Old Frisian t?r, Old High German zahar, Old Norse tár, Gothic ???????????????? (tagr).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tæ???r/

Noun

t?ar m

1. tear (drop of liquid from the tear duct)

Declension

Derived terms

• t?eran

Descendants

• English: tear

Portuguese

Etymology

From teia +? -ar.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /te.?a?/
• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /?tj.ar/
• Hyphenation: te?ar

Noun

tear m (plural teares)

1. loom (machine used to make cloth out of thread)
   • 1878, Joaquim Pedro Oliveira Martins, O hellenismo e a civilisação christan, publ. by the widow Bertand & Co., page 24.

West Frisian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

tear c (plural tearen, diminutive tearke)

1. fold
2. crease

Further reading

• “tear (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011