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Glite Dictionary
to fly on

to fly on

6 2.3
To continue moving through the air like a bird or plane
  • phrasal verb
  • /flaɪ ɑn/
translation icon : seguir volando
  • "Let's fly on to Paris and see the sunset again."

And I can only the way that I described it was I'm flying on this plane and I'm the pilot.

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Examples

  • Is the airplane able to fly on with small holes anywhere in the wings or fuselage?

    Blog text (1)

  • Fly on, fly on past the speed of sound.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • How long can we fly on one engine?

    Memphis Belle (1990)

  • "But even if we lost an engine, we can fly on two.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Listen, we're flying on two engines now.

    Memphis Belle (1990)

  • Hundreds of businessmen and women fly on 10 or more international trips a year.

    Blog text (1)

  • It means controllers could give you a clearance to fly on instruments and separate you from other aircraft.

  • We did have diplomatic clearance, but it was only to fly on the Victor 33 airway.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Flying on, she did not know she had crossed the Green Line until a searchlight beam swept over her.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • The baby birds are expected to grow up fast and fly on their own in about two months.

Synonyms

to go on
vsto fly on
∞ 1.0

Keep happening or keep being done without stopping

focuses on continuing movement while airborne rather than any action
to fly
vsto fly on
∞ 1.0

Move through the air using wings or in a plane

means continued movement while airborne rather than a single motion
to keep on
vsto fly on
306 1.4

Continue doing something without stopping

applies specifically to continuing movement while airborne rather than any activity

Antonyms

to stop
∞ 1.0

To make something end and not continue

to land
∞ 1.0

To come down and rest on a surface

How Long

to soar
97 1.8
to fly on
6 2.3
to glide
89 2.9
to flutter
35 3.5
to flit
18 6.1

Surface Forms

fly on infinitive
flying on present participle
flies on third person singular
flew on past
flown on past participle

Morphology

fly + on

The meaning 'to continue flying' is directly compositional from 'fly' (move through the air) plus the particle 'on' (indicating continuation or persistence). This verb+particle pattern is a regular and cross-linguistically recognizable way to express continued action in English, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Fly on gives a clear image: a bird or plane keeps moving through the air, because fly shows flying and on shows it continues forward. So fly on means 'to continue flying' or 'to keep proceeding through the air'.