FLIGHT

I. noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English, from Old English flyht; akin to Middle Dutch vlucht ~, Old English flēogan to fly Date: before 12th century 1. an act or instance of passing through the air by the use of wings , the ability to fly , 2. a passing through the air or through space outside the earth's atmosphere , the distance covered in such a ~, swift movement, 3. a trip made by or in an airplane or spacecraft, a scheduled airplane trip, a group of similar beings or objects flying through the air together, a brilliant, imaginative, or unrestrained exercise or display , 6. a continuous series of stairs from one landing or floor to another, a series (as of terraces or conveyors) resembling a ~ of stairs, a unit of the United States Air Force below a squadron, ~less adjective II. verb Date: 1571 transitive verb flush , intransitive verb to rise, settle, or fly in a flock , III. noun Etymology: Middle English fluht, fliht; akin to Old High German fluht ~, Old English flēon to flee Date: 13th century an act or instance of running away