"on the fly" meaning in English

See on the fly in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

Audio: En-au-on the fly.ogg [Australia]
Head templates: {{en-adv|-}} on the fly (not comparable)
  1. (baseball, of the ball) While in the air, without having touched the ground. Tags: not-comparable Categories (topical): Baseball Synonyms: in flight Translations (while in the air): al vol (Catalan), i farten (Danish), i skyndingen (Danish), lennosta (Finnish), à la volée (French), sem sobressaltos (Portuguese), на лету́ (na letú) (Russian), al vuelo (Spanish), i flykten (Swedish), på lyra (Swedish), uçarken (Turkish)
    Sense id: en-on_the_fly-en-adv-7VAIiQbc Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup, English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 50 50 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 50 50 Disambiguation of English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys: 46 54 Topics: ball-games, baseball, games, hobbies, lifestyle, sports Disambiguation of 'while in the air': 98 2
  2. (idiomatic) Spontaneously or extemporaneously; done as one goes, or during another activity. Tags: idiomatic, not-comparable Synonyms: in flight, on the wing, ;, on the spot, ;, on the hoof, on-the-fly Derived forms: OTFE, on-the-fly encryption Related terms: fly by the seat of one's pants Translations (spontaneously or extemporaneously): lennosta (Finnish), à la volée (French), sur le fly (French), in Eile (German), spontan (German), unvorbereitet (German), ohne Vorbereitung (German), fliegend (German), auf die Schnelle (German), improvisiert (German), w locie (Polish), на лету́ (na letú) (Russian), al vuelo (Spanish), a vuelapluma (Spanish), sobre la marcha (Spanish), i flykten (Swedish), anında (Turkish), hazırlıksız (Turkish)
    Sense id: en-on_the_fly-en-adv-o3pzdQhy Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup, English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 50 50 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 50 50 Disambiguation of English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys: 46 54 Disambiguation of 'spontaneously or extemporaneously': 5 95

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for on the fly meaning in English (6.7kB)

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  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
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      "expansion": "on the fly (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adv"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Baseball",
          "orig": "en:Baseball",
          "parents": [
            "Ball games",
            "Sports",
            "Human activity",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Jones caught the ball on the fly.",
          "type": "example"
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "While in the air, without having touched the ground."
      ],
      "id": "en-on_the_fly-en-adv-7VAIiQbc",
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(baseball, of the ball) While in the air, without having touched the ground."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of the ball"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "in flight"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
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      "topics": [
        "ball-games",
        "baseball",
        "games",
        "hobbies",
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      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "while in the air",
          "word": "al vol"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "while in the air",
          "word": "i farten"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "while in the air",
          "word": "i skyndingen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "while in the air",
          "word": "lennosta"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "while in the air",
          "word": "à la volée"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "while in the air",
          "word": "sem sobressaltos"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "na letú",
          "sense": "while in the air",
          "word": "на лету́"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "while in the air",
          "word": "al vuelo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "while in the air",
          "word": "i flykten"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "while in the air",
          "word": "på lyra"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "while in the air",
          "word": "uçarken"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
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      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "25 75",
          "word": "OTFE"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "25 75",
          "word": "on-the-fly encryption"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The software program has a table of values for some results, but calculates others on the fly.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Spontaneously or extemporaneously; done as one goes, or during another activity."
      ],
      "id": "en-on_the_fly-en-adv-o3pzdQhy",
      "links": [
        [
          "Spontaneously",
          "spontaneously"
        ],
        [
          "extemporaneously",
          "extemporaneously"
        ]
      ],
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        "(idiomatic) Spontaneously or extemporaneously; done as one goes, or during another activity."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "25 75",
          "word": "fly by the seat of one's pants"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "in flight"
        },
        {
          "word": "on the wing"
        },
        {
          "word": ";"
        },
        {
          "word": "on the spot"
        },
        {
          "word": ";"
        },
        {
          "word": "on the hoof"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "word": "on-the-fly"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable"
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      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "lennosta"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "à la volée"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "sur le fly"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "in Eile"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "spontan"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "unvorbereitet"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "ohne Vorbereitung"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "fliegend"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "auf die Schnelle"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "improvisiert"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "w locie"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "na letú",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "на лету́"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "al vuelo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "a vuelapluma"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "sobre la marcha"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "i flykten"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "anında"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "5 95",
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
          "word": "hazırlıksız"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-on the fly.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/31/En-au-on_the_fly.ogg/En-au-on_the_fly.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/En-au-on_the_fly.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "on the fly"
  ],
  "word": "on the fly"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adverbs",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English prepositional phrases",
    "English terms with audio links",
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    "English uncomparable adverbs"
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  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "OTFE"
    },
    {
      "word": "on-the-fly encryption"
    }
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      "args": {
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      "expansion": "on the fly (not comparable)",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "related": [
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      "word": "fly by the seat of one's pants"
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    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "en:Baseball"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Jones caught the ball on the fly.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "While in the air, without having touched the ground."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "baseball",
          "baseball"
        ],
        [
          "air",
          "air"
        ],
        [
          "touch",
          "touch"
        ],
        [
          "ground",
          "ground"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(baseball, of the ball) While in the air, without having touched the ground."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of the ball"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "in flight"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
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      "topics": [
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        "baseball",
        "games",
        "hobbies",
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        "sports"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The software program has a table of values for some results, but calculates others on the fly.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Spontaneously or extemporaneously; done as one goes, or during another activity."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Spontaneously",
          "spontaneously"
        ],
        [
          "extemporaneously",
          "extemporaneously"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Spontaneously or extemporaneously; done as one goes, or during another activity."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "in flight"
        },
        {
          "word": "on the wing"
        },
        {
          "word": ";"
        },
        {
          "word": "on the spot"
        },
        {
          "word": ";"
        },
        {
          "word": "on the hoof"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable"
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      "tags": [
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    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "on-the-fly"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "while in the air",
      "word": "al vol"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "while in the air",
      "word": "i farten"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "while in the air",
      "word": "i skyndingen"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "while in the air",
      "word": "lennosta"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "while in the air",
      "word": "à la volée"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "while in the air",
      "word": "sem sobressaltos"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "na letú",
      "sense": "while in the air",
      "word": "на лету́"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "while in the air",
      "word": "al vuelo"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "while in the air",
      "word": "i flykten"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "while in the air",
      "word": "på lyra"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "while in the air",
      "word": "uçarken"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "lennosta"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "à la volée"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "sur le fly"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "in Eile"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "spontan"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "unvorbereitet"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "ohne Vorbereitung"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "fliegend"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "auf die Schnelle"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "improvisiert"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "w locie"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "na letú",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "на лету́"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "al vuelo"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "a vuelapluma"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "sobre la marcha"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "i flykten"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "anında"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "spontaneously or extemporaneously",
      "word": "hazırlıksız"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "on the fly"
  ],
  "word": "on the fly"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-05 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). 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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