fly vs pelt

fly

verb
  • To travel or proceed very fast; to hasten. 

  • To be in the winged adult stage. 

  • To hunt with a hawk. 

  • To be accepted, come about or work out. 

  • To proceed with great success. 

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

  • 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. 

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

  • Beautiful; displaying physical beauty. 

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. 

pelt

verb
  • To move rapidly, especially in or on a conveyance. 

  • Chiefly followed by at: to (continuously) throw (missiles) at. 

  • Especially of hailstones, rain, or snow: to beat down or fall forcefully or heavily; to rain down. 

  • To repeatedly beat or hit (someone or something). 

  • To remove the skin from (an animal); to skin. 

  • To force (someone or something) to move using blows or the throwing of missiles. 

  • Of a number of small objects (such as raindrops), or the sun's rays: to beat down or fall on (someone or something) in a shower. 

  • Chiefly followed by from: to remove (the skin) from an animal. 

  • To bombard (someone or something) with missiles. 

  • To assail (someone) with harsh words in speech or writing; to abuse, to insult. 

noun
  • A blow or stroke from something thrown. 

  • A tattered or worthless piece of clothing; a rag. 

  • The skin of an animal with the hair or wool on; either a raw or undressed hide, or a skin preserved with the hair or wool on it (sometimes worn as a garment with minimal modification). 

  • The fur or hair of a living animal. 

  • The skin of an animal (especially a goat or sheep) with the hair or wool removed, often in preparation for tanning. 

  • Human skin, especially when bare; also, a person's hair. 

  • A beating or falling down of hailstones, rain, or snow in a shower. 

  • An act of moving quickly; a rush. 

  • Anything in a ragged and worthless state; rubbish, trash. 

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