"let fly" meaning in English

See let fly in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: En-au-let fly.ogg Forms: lets fly [present, singular, third-person], letting fly [participle, present], let fly [participle, past], let fly [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|let<,,let> fly}} let fly (third-person singular simple present lets fly, present participle letting fly, simple past and past participle let fly)
  1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To strike or release a projectile with great force. Tags: idiomatic, intransitive Categories (topical): Violence
    Sense id: en-let_fly-en-verb-UA5LrEeD Disambiguation of Violence: 74 26 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 60 40 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 68 32 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 78 22
  2. (figurative) To unleash an angry outburst. Tags: figuratively
    Sense id: en-let_fly-en-verb-v4VRvlr-
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "lets fly",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "letting fly",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "let fly",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "let fly",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "let<,,let> fly"
      },
      "expansion": "let fly (third-person singular simple present lets fly, present participle letting fly, simple past and past participle let fly)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "60 40",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "68 32",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "78 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "74 26",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Violence",
          "orig": "en:Violence",
          "parents": [
            "Human behaviour",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter III, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC:",
          "text": "One evening when it was barely even dusk a sentry let fly at me from a distance of twenty yards; but he missed me by a yard—goodness knows how many times the Spanish standard of marksmanship has saved my life.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011 October 29, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport:",
          "text": "Norwich were back on level terms through an equally stunning finish by Morison in the 53rd minute, the former Millwall player letting fly from the edge of the area after being teed-up by Leon Barnett.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To strike or release a projectile with great force."
      ],
      "id": "en-let_fly-en-verb-UA5LrEeD",
      "links": [
        [
          "strike",
          "strike"
        ],
        [
          "release",
          "release"
        ],
        [
          "projectile",
          "projectile"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, intransitive) To strike or release a projectile with great force."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "She was furious and let fly at him with a string of obscenities.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 498:",
          "text": "Rosemary peeled off Sloane Square, Hartnell, decorations-will-be-worn, fog primroses, crumpets by the fire, and let fly vulgarly at Vythilingam.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1984 August 11, Merle Woo, “Revolutionary Optimism—The Order of the Day”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 5, page 5:",
          "text": "Jammed onto a narrow, steep sidewalk, police barricades all around, we march with placards, drums, and angry spirit: \"The Moral Majority, cops and Klan. Work together hand in hand.\" — helmeted tac squad on horses, Hondas, facing us on Powell Street, itching to wield their billy clubs, waiting for any excuse to let fly.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To unleash an angry outburst."
      ],
      "id": "en-let_fly-en-verb-v4VRvlr-",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) To unleash an angry outburst."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-let fly.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/6b/En-au-let_fly.ogg/En-au-let_fly.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/En-au-let_fly.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "let fly"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "en:Violence"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "lets fly",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "letting fly",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "let fly",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "let fly",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "let<,,let> fly"
      },
      "expansion": "let fly (third-person singular simple present lets fly, present participle letting fly, simple past and past participle let fly)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter III, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC:",
          "text": "One evening when it was barely even dusk a sentry let fly at me from a distance of twenty yards; but he missed me by a yard—goodness knows how many times the Spanish standard of marksmanship has saved my life.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011 October 29, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport:",
          "text": "Norwich were back on level terms through an equally stunning finish by Morison in the 53rd minute, the former Millwall player letting fly from the edge of the area after being teed-up by Leon Barnett.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To strike or release a projectile with great force."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "strike",
          "strike"
        ],
        [
          "release",
          "release"
        ],
        [
          "projectile",
          "projectile"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, intransitive) To strike or release a projectile with great force."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "She was furious and let fly at him with a string of obscenities.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 498:",
          "text": "Rosemary peeled off Sloane Square, Hartnell, decorations-will-be-worn, fog primroses, crumpets by the fire, and let fly vulgarly at Vythilingam.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1984 August 11, Merle Woo, “Revolutionary Optimism—The Order of the Day”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 5, page 5:",
          "text": "Jammed onto a narrow, steep sidewalk, police barricades all around, we march with placards, drums, and angry spirit: \"The Moral Majority, cops and Klan. Work together hand in hand.\" — helmeted tac squad on horses, Hondas, facing us on Powell Street, itching to wield their billy clubs, waiting for any excuse to let fly.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To unleash an angry outburst."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) To unleash an angry outburst."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-let fly.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/6b/En-au-let_fly.ogg/En-au-let_fly.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/En-au-let_fly.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "let fly"
}

Download raw JSONL data for let fly meaning in English (3.1kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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