fly
- noun
- /flaɪ/
- During our trip, we accidentally tore the fly on our tent while setting it up.
- a tent fly
- a rain fly
- attach the fly
Examples
-
Every garrison required "camp equipage" such as tents and flies (tarpaulins), camp kettles, and mess tins, as well as building tools and materials.
Academic text (2011) -
Make sure to secure the fly tightly to keep out any bugs while you sleep.
-
"The tent was a reed caddis fly, big enough for three, though not with room to stand.
Fiction book (1995) -
This also has a 70 denier, high-density, abrasion-resistant fly with that same rip stop weave.
-
The campers struggled to attach the fly before the rain started pouring down.
Synonyms
A piece of cloth like a door that opens and closes at a tent entrance
A flap of fabric that opens to let people into a tent
A flap of cloth over a tent entrance that keeps out rain and insects
Antonyms
Idioms
Compounds
- Jargon
A caught fly ball that lets a player on base score while it puts the batter out
- Offensive
Not reliable and likely to disappear quickly, often for dishonest reasons
- South African
A large African fly that bites people and animals and causes sleeping sickness
A large fly with a shiny blue-green body that lays eggs on dead animals and in wounds
A small bright green beetle from southern Europe that makes a liquid causing blisters
- Specialized
The use of a special rod and line to throw a small fake fly into water to catch fish
A small insect like a moth whose young live in water and build protective cases from stones and plants
A small moth-like insect whose young live in water and build cases from pebbles and plants
A small insect with wings like a moth whose larvae live in water and build cases from sand and plants
A small moth-like insect whose young live in water and build cases from sand and plants
- Specialized
A very small wasp that lays eggs in other insects' eggs or young and helps control pests
A long thin fly with very long legs that looks like a large mosquito but does not bite
- Specialized
A fever people can catch from ticks, flies, or touching infected wild animals like rabbits
- Specialized
Large insect with a soft body and long jaws whose young live in water and are used as fishing bait
- Specialized
A North American bush with pale yellow flowers and berries eaten by birds
A winged insect like a dragonfly whose young dig small cone-shaped pits in sand to trap ants and other insects
A small shrub with pairs of yellowish-white flowers and bright red berries often grown in gardens
A poisonous mushroom with a bright red cap covered in white dots that grows in forests
A North American bush that loses its leaves in winter and has upright stems and pale yellow flowers
- Specialized
A small open deck above the ship's control room for steering and a better view
- Specialized
A narrow high platform at the side of a stage where crew use ropes to move scenery above it
- Specialized
A narrow high platform at the side of a stage where crew work with ropes and equipment
A small delicate insect with thin net-like wings whose young eat garden pests like aphids
A large tropical insect with bright colors and a long snout, once thought to give light
- Specialized
A slender insect with long legs that hangs from plants to catch other small insects
- Specialized
A wasp-like insect that lays eggs inside caterpillars so the young eat them
- Specialized
A large fast fly that catches other insects in the air and drinks their juices
- Offensive
A very revealing outfit that draws attention to the wearer's crotch area
An insect that eats insects, with a long beak and antennae, whose males have a curved tail like a scorpion
Surface Forms
Etymology
Fly of a tent is a piece of cloth that covers the tent like a 'flap', and the word comes from the idea of a cloth that lies over and protects the tent from rain and wind.