flies

Etymology

noun

1. plural of fly

noun

1. The open area above a stage where scenery and equipment may be hung.
   […] I was born in the dressing-room, suckled in the flies, educated in the lobby, and brought up in the property-room […] 1792, Charles Dibdin, chapter 6, in Hannah Hewit: or, the Female Crusoe, volume 1, London: for the author, page 167
   Hung from the “flies” in air, She acts a palpable lie, She’s as little a fairy there 1869, W. S. Gilbert, “Only a Dancing Girl”, in The “Bab” Ballads, London: John Camden Hotten, page 25
   One of the staff was up in the flies fixing the weight for the mast. The head mechanist and Ted Gascoigne were down below on the stage, having an argument. Suddenly, the gentleman in the flies got all careless and dropped the weight. 1937, Ngaio Marsh, chapter 14, in Vintage Murder, New York: Jove Books, published 1978, page 156

verb

1. third-person singular simple present indicative of fly