Word.ws English Dictionary

on the fly

on the fly adverb: while in the air, without having touched the ground.

Adverb

on the fly (not comparable)

  1. While in the air, without having touched the ground.
    • Jones caught the ball on the fly.
    Synonyms:
    in flight
  2. (idiomatic) Spontaneously or extemporaneously; done as one goes, or during another activity.
    • The software program has a table of values for some results, but calculates others on the fly.
    • The only process that yields problem-solving on the fly is experiential.2026 April 9, Charles Hugh Smith, Automating Our Dependence Will Cripple Us
  3. (slang) On the move.
    • The Owl is flying high, frightening to the eye.
      The Rattler is nearby, Cool is on the fly.
      Danger is his business.1966, “Cool McCool (theme song)”, Bernie Green (music) (Cool McCool (television series)), performed by Bob McFadden

on the fly meaning in Tamil

on the fly in Tamil

பறந்து கொண்டே

Synonyms of on the fly

Forms of on the fly

alternative formon-the-fly

Words formed from on the fly

Questions about on the fly

What does on the fly mean?
On the fly means while in the air, without having touched the ground.
What is on the fly in Tamil?
On the fly in Tamil is பறந்து கொண்டே. See On the fly meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is on the fly?
On the fly is an adverb.

Words near on the fly in the dictionary

  1. on the fiddle
  2. on the flat
  3. on the flip side
  4. on the flipside
  5. on the floor
  6. on the fly
  7. on the fritz
  8. on the front burner
  9. on the front foot
  10. on the full
  11. on the game

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: on the fly (page history and authors); on the fly (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-on the fly.ogg.

Cite this entry: “on the fly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/on_the_fly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.