flight

Etymology 1

jet in flight]] From Middle English flight, from Old English flyht (“flight”), from Proto-West Germanic *fluhti (“flight”), derived from *fleuganą (“to fly”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to fly”), enlargement of *plew- (“flow”). Analyzable as fly + -t (variant of -th). Cognate with West Frisian flecht (“flight”), Dutch vlucht (“flight”), German Flucht (“flight”) (etymology 2).

noun

1. The act of flying.
   Most birds are capable of flight.
2. An instance of flying.
   The migrating birds' flight took them to Africa.
3. (collective) A collective term for doves or swallows.
   a flight of swallows
4. A trip made by an aircraft, particularly one between two cities or countries, which is often planned or reserved in advance.
   The flight to Paris leaves at 7 o'clock tonight.
   Where is the departure gate for flight 747? / Go straight down and to the right.
5. A series of stairs between landings.
   She crept up the stairs … On she went, across the landing, from which sprang the tall window, and up the next flight until she reached the top. 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, page 84
6. A group of canal locks with a short distance between them
7. A floor which is reached by stairs or escalators.
   How many flights is it up?
8. The feathers on an arrow or dart used to help it follow an even path.
9. A paper airplane.
10. (cricket) The movement of a spinning ball through the air - concerns its speed, trajectory and drift.
11. The ballistic trajectory of an arrow or other projectile.
12. An aerodynamic surface designed to guide such a projectile's trajectory.
13. An air force unit.
14. Several sample glasses of a specific wine varietal or other beverage. The pours are smaller than a full glass and the flight will generally include three to five different samples.
15. (engineering) The shaped material forming the thread of a screw.
16. An episode of imaginative thinking or dreaming.
    a flight of fancy; a flight of the imagination

adj

1. (obsolete) Fast, swift, fleet.

verb

1. (cricket, of a spin bowler) To throw the ball in such a way that it has more airtime and more spin than usual.
2. (sports, by extension, transitive) To throw or kick something so as to send it flying with more loft or airtime than usual.
   Riyad Mahrez flighted the free-kick that followed to the far post and Morgan, with not much finesse but plenty of desire, bundled the ball over the line. Cue pandemonium in the stands. March 14, 2017, Stuart James, “Leicester stun Sevilla to reach last eight after Kasper Schmeichel save”, in the Guardian

Etymology 2

From Middle English, from Old English flyht, from Proto-West Germanic *fluhti, derived from *fleuhaną (“to flee”). Analyzable as flee + -t (variant of -th). Cognate with Dutch vlucht, German Flucht (etymology 1).

noun

1. The act of fleeing.
   take flight
   the flight of a refugee
   Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night, Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight: And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught 1859, Edward Fitzgerald, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: The Astronomer-Poet of Persia, page 1
   But the sight of her eyes was not a thing to forget. John Dodds said they were the een of a deer with the Devil ahint them; and indeed, they would so appal an onlooker that a sudden unreasoning terror came into his heart, while his feet would impel him to flight. 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide