See also: Flyer

English

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Flyer (sense 5) advertising a rave party
 
Flyers (sense 7)

Alternative forms

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  • flier (more common in US, except in the sense of “leaflet”)

Etymology

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fly +‎ -er. With regard to the sense "female kangaroo": because of the high speed at which they move.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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flyer (plural flyers)

  1. That which flies, as a bird or insect.
  2. A machine that flies.
  3. (dated) An airplane pilot.
    Synonyms: aviator, aviatrix
  4. A person who travels by airplane.
  5. A leaflet, often for advertising.
    Synonyms: circular, leaflet
    Coordinate terms: booklet, brochure, catalogue, pamphlet
  6. The part of a spinning machine that twists the thread as it takes it to and winds it on the bobbin
  7. (architecture) An arch that connects a flying buttress into the structure it supports.
  8. (acrobatics, cheerleading, synchronized swimming) A person who is lifted and/or thrown by another person or persons.
    Coordinate term: base
  9. (firearms) A stray shot away from the group on a target.
  10. A standard rectangular step of a staircase (as opposed to a winder).
  11. A female kangaroo; a roo; a doe; a jill.
  12. A leap or jump.
  13. A risky investment or other venture.
    • 1903, Mark Twain, The $30,000 Bequest:
      It was a great day for the pair of Fosters. They were speechless for joy. Also speechless for another reason: after much watching of the market, Aleck had lately, with fear and trembling, made her first flyer on a “margin,” using the remaining twenty thousand of the bequest in this risk.
  14. (informal) A fast-moving person or thing.
    • 1961 October, “The winter timetables of British Railways: Southern Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 593:
      The new Waterloo–Exeter times of the S.R. flyer are 2hr 58min down and 1min more up, in less than 3hr, that is to say, in both directions, with the help of four runs timed at over a mile a minute.
  15. (sports) A false start

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Finnish: flaijeri
  • French: flyer
  • German: Flyer
  • Korean: 플라이어 (peullaieo)
  • Portuguese: flyer

Translations

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Verb

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flyer (third-person singular simple present flyers, present participle flyering, simple past and past participle flyered)

  1. (intransitive) To distribute flyers (leaflets).
    • 2012, Mark Fisher, quoting Neil McKinnon, The Edinburgh Fringe Survival Guide, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 156:
      Neil McKinnon, the Fringe's head of external affairs, asks: Are you flyering in the right place at the right time? How are you flyering? Good flyering is about more than standing there handing out flyers to as many people as you can.
  2. (transitive) To distribute flyers in (a location) or to (recipients).

Adjective

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flyer

  1. comparative form of fly: more fly

Further reading

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Anagrams

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French

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Etymology 1

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Borrowed from English flyer.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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flyer m (plural flyers)

  1. flyer (leaflet)
    Synonyms: affiche, affichette

Etymology 2

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Derived from English fly.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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flyer

  1. (North America, intransitive) to flee, to run off; to scram, skedaddle, scarper
Conjugation
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This verb is part of a large group of -er verbs that conjugate like noyer or ennuyer. These verbs always replace the 'y' with an 'i' before a silent 'e'.