fly

as the crow flies: seecrow.

die (or drop) like flies die or collapse in large numbers.

drink with the flies drink alone. Australian & New Zealand informal

1963D. WhitingtonMile Pegs 'Have a drink?' the larrikin invited. 'Or do you prefer drinking with the flies?'

fly the coop make your escape. informal

2013New York Times Leonard is the product of a wild imagination and a troubled home. His burned-out rocker father flew the coop some years ago; his mother, a fashion designer, is so checked out she doesn't remember his birthday.

fly the flag: seeflag.

fly high be very successful; prosper.

☞ The noun high-flyer (or high-flier) meaning 'a successful and ambitious person' developed from this phrase in the mid 17th century.

a fly in amber a curious relic of the past, preserved into the present.

☞ The image is of the fossilized bodies of insects which are often found preserved in amber.

fly in the face of be openly at variance with (what is usual or expected).

a fly in the ointment a minor irritation or other factor that spoils the success or enjoyment of something.

☞ This expression alludes to Ecclesiastes 10:1: 'Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour'.

2013New Zealand Herald The X2 wins on a design basis, and its battery life led the pack hands down thanks to the additional battery in its keyboard dock. About the only fly in the ointment is the lack of any real processing muscle.

fly a kite try something out to test opinion. informal

☞ A historical sense of this phrase was 'raise money by an accommodation bill', meaning to raise money on credit, and this sense of testing public opinion of your creditworthiness gave rise to the current figurative sense. The US phrase go fly a kite! means 'go away!'.

fly the nest (of a young person) leave their parent's home to set up home elsewhere. informal

☞ The image here is of a young bird's departure from its nest on becoming able to fly. Compare with empty nester (atempty).

fly off the handle lose your temper suddenly and unexpectedly. informal

☞ This expression uses the image of a loose head of an axe flying off its handle while the axe is being swung.

a fly on the wall an unnoticed observer of a particular situation.

☞ This expression is often used as an adjective, as in a fly-on-the-wall documentary, where it refers to a film-making technique in which events are merely observed and presented realistically with minimum interference, rather than acted out under direction.

the fur will fly: seefur.

let fly attack physically or verbally.

2013Mark HeuringMr Dilettante Some things have changed-with increased maturity, she's less likely to let fly with a cutting remark than she was then.

like a blue-arsed fly in an extremely hectic or frantic way. British vulgar slang

☞ The 'blue-arsed fly' referred to is a bluebottle, well known for its frenetic buzzing about.

1998Rebecca RayA Certain Age I'm not going to run around like a blue-arsed fly pandering to you and your bloody room, alright?

on the fly

1 while in motion.

2 while busy or active.

3 (of an addition or modification in computing) carried out during the running of a program without interrupting the run.

pigs might fly: seepig.

there are no flies on - the person mentioned is very quick and astute.

☞ Early instances of this expression suggest that it originated with reference to cattle who were so active that no flies settled on them. The phrase was noted in the mid 19th century as being very common in Australia as a general expression of approbation. In the USA it could also be used to convey that the person in question was of superior breeding or behaved honestly.

wouldn't hurt (or harm) a fly used to emphasize how inoffensive and harmless a person or animal is.