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