⏳ To pass quickly ✈️ To pass overhead

to fly by

16 2.2

To move past something while in the air

phrasal verb
/flaɪ baɪ/

: pasar volando

As the airplane began to fly by, everyone looked up to watch it pass overhead.

So the only thing I can think is maybe like a bird flew by and brought us some seeds somehow.

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Examples

A huge seagull flew by and snatched it in his beak.

Fiction book (1997)
Did anybody else see those big letters flying by?

The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000)
When you get to the woods, pass him, just fly by him.

Meatballs (1979)
The Coast Guard plane flies by one more time, this time dropping a survival pack.

Fiction book (2002)
Big rigs, buses, and cars are flying by us on the Pan American highway.

Blog text (24)
A flock of wild geese flies by in the mirror glass of an apartment building.

Fiction book (1997)
The bird will fly by the tree during its migration.
Yesterday, a military jet flew by our house in a routine training exercise.

Synonyms

to pass by

vsto fly by

165 1.2

Go past someone or something without stopping

is movement through the air rather than passing on foot or ground

to go by

vsto fly by

133 1.0

To move past someone or something

is movement through the air past something

to fly over

vsto fly by

102 3.1

To move through the air above a place, for example a plane or bird

is movement past while airborne rather than only over a point

to go past

vsto fly by

16 1.0

Move by someone or something without stopping

is movement through the air rather than general ground motion

to overfly

vsto fly by

2 7.9

To fly over a place in a plane

is movement through the air past something rather than general passing

to whisk by

vsto fly by

1 5.1

Move past someone or something very quickly and smoothly

is movement through the air past something without focus on speed

to glide by

vsto fly by

1 3.9

Time that passes quickly without you noticing

is physical movement through the air past objects not time passing

Antonyms

to hover

85 2.8

To stay in one place in the air without moving

How Fast

to whizz along

1 5.1

to swoop

11 3.2

to fly by

16 2.2

Surface Forms

fly by infinitive

flying by present participle

flies by third person singular

flew by past

flown by past participle

Morphology

fly + by

The meaning 'to seem to pass very quickly' is directly derivable from combining 'fly' (to move/occur quickly) with 'by' (past or passing alongside); together they convey the motion/passing metaphor applied to time or events. This motion-as-passing metaphor is common cross-linguistically and follows a standard English verb + particle pattern, so an average B1 learner who knows the parts would likely infer the meaning.

Etymology

The verb fly by comes from the picture of a bird or plane moving past you in the air. fly shows the movement and by means 'past', so it literally means 'to move past while flying'.