flash vs fly

flash

verb
  • To move, or cause to move, suddenly. 

  • To blink; to shine or illuminate intermittently. 

  • To flaunt; to display in a showy manner. 

  • To cover with a thin layer, as objects of glass with glass of a different colour. 

  • To burst out into violence. 

  • To send by some startling or sudden means. 

  • To release the pressure from a pressurized vessel. 

  • To evaporate suddenly. (See flash evaporation.) 

  • To expand (blown glass) into a disc. 

  • To telephone a person, only allowing the phone to ring once, in order to request a call back. 

  • To expose one's intimate body part or piece of clothing, often momentarily. (Contrast streak.) 

  • To write to the memory of (an updatable component such as a BIOS chip or games cartridge). 

  • To cause to shine briefly or intermittently. 

  • To perform a flash. 

  • To be visible briefly. 

  • To climb (a route) successfully on the first attempt. 

  • To make visible briefly. 

  • To break forth like a sudden flood of light; to show a momentary brilliance. 

  • To communicate quickly. 

adj
  • Occurring very rapidly, almost instantaneously. 

  • Expensive-looking and demanding attention; stylish; showy. 

  • Having plenty of ready money. 

  • Liable to show off expensive possessions or money. 

noun
  • A language, created by a minority to maintain cultural identity, that cannot be understood by the ruling class. 

  • The strips of bright cloth or buttons worn around the collars of market traders. 

  • A pool. 

  • Pizzazz, razzle-dazzle. 

  • Material left around the edge of a moulded part at the parting line of the mould. 

  • A sudden, short, temporary burst of light. 

  • The (intentional or unintentional) exposure of an intimate body part or undergarment in public. 

  • Any of various lycaenid butterflies of the genera Artipe, Deudorix and Rapala. 

  • A reservoir and sluiceway beside a navigable stream, just above a shoal, so that the stream may pour in water as boats pass, and thus bear them over the shoal. 

  • A brief exposure or making visible (of a smile, badge, etc). 

  • A form of military insignia. 

  • A pattern where each prop is thrown and caught only once. 

  • A flashlight; an electric torch. 

  • The sudden sensation of being "high" after taking a recreational drug. 

  • A very short amount of time. 

  • A tattoo flash (example design on paper to give an idea of a possible tattoo). 

  • A sudden and brilliant burst, as of genius or wit. 

fly

verb
  • To move suddenly, or with violence; to do an act suddenly or swiftly. 

  • To be in the winged adult stage. 

  • To hunt with a hawk. 

  • To travel or proceed very fast; to hasten. 

  • To be accepted, come about or work out. 

  • To proceed with great success. 

  • To cause to fly (travel or float in the air): to transport via air or the like. 

  • To display (a flag) on a flagpole. 

  • To hit a fly ball; to hit a fly ball that is caught for an out. Compare ground (verb) and line (verb). 

  • To travel through the air, another gas, or a vacuum, without being in contact with a grounded surface. 

noun
  • A vibrating frame with fingers, attached to a power printing press for doing the same work. 

  • A wing. 

  • A type of small, light, fast horse-drawn carriage that can be hired for transportation (sometimes pluralised flys). 

  • Two or more vanes set on a revolving axis, to act as a fanner, or to equalize or impede the motion of machinery by the resistance of the air, as in the striking part of a clock. 

  • A lightweight fishing lure resembling an insect. 

  • The butterfly stroke (plural is normally flys). 

  • A strip of material (sometimes hiding zippers or buttons) at the front of a pair of trousers, pants, underpants, bootees, etc. 

  • Especially, any of the insects of the family Muscidae, such as the common housefly (other families of Diptera include mosquitoes and midges). 

  • A butterfly (combination of four options). 

  • An act of flying. 

  • One of the upper screens of a stage in a theatre. 

  • The person who took the printed sheets from the press. 

  • A piece of canvas that covers the opening at the front of a tent. 

  • The pair of arms revolving around the bobbin, in a spinning wheel or spinning frame, to twist the yarn. 

  • waste cotton 

  • Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by having two wings (except for some wingless species), also called true flies. 

  • A simple dance in which the hands are shaken in the air, popular in the 1960s. 

  • An exercise that involves wide opening and closing of the arms perpendicular to the shoulders. 

  • A chest exercise performed by moving extended arms from the sides to in front of the chest. (also flye) 

  • Any similar, but not closely related insect, such as a dragonfly or butterfly. 

  • That part of a compass on which the points are marked; the compass card. 

  • In a knitting machine, the piece hinged to the needle, which holds the engaged loop in position while the needle is penetrating another loop; a latch.. 

  • The free edge of a flag. 

  • The horizontal length of a flag. 

  • A fly ball. 

  • The part of a vane pointing the direction from which the wind blows. 

  • Related terms: flyman 

  • A shuttle driven through the shed by a blow or jerk. 

adj
  • Well dressed, smart in appearance; in style, cool. 

  • Beautiful; displaying physical beauty. 

How often have the words flash and fly occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )