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Flight vs Plight - What's the difference?

flight | plight |

In obsolete terms the difference between flight and plight

is that flight is fast, swift while plight is a network; a plait; a fold; rarely a garment.

As an adjective flight

is fast, swift.

flight

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl), from (etyl) flyht, from (etyl) . Cognate with Dutch vlucht, German Flucht (etymology 2).

Noun

  • The act of flying.
    • Birds are capable of flight
  • An instance of flying.
    • The migrating birds' flight took them to Africa.
  • A collective term for doves or swallows.
  • A journey made by an aircraft, eg a balloon, plane or space shuttle, particularly one between two airports, which needs to be reserved in advance.
    • The flight to Paris leaves at 7 o'clock tonight
    Where is the departure gate for flight 747? / Go straight down and to the right.
  • The act of fleeing. (Flight'' is the noun which corresponds to the verb ''flee .)
    • take flight
    the flight of a refugee
  • A set of stairs or an escalator. A series of stairs between landings.
  • A floor which is reached by stairs or escalators.
    • How many flights is it up?
  • A feather on an arrow or dart used to help it follow an even path.
  • A paper plane.
  • (cricket) The movement of a spinning ball through the air - concerns its speed, trajectory and drift.
  • The ballistic trajectory of an arrow or other projectile.
  • An aerodynamic surface designed to guide such a projectile's trajectory.
  • An air force unit.
  • Several sample glasses of a specific wine varietal or other beverage. The pours are smaller than a full glass and the flight will generally include three to five different samples.
  • (engineering) The shaped material forming the thread of a screw.
    • Derived terms
    * direct flight * flight attendant * flight ceiling * flight data recorder * flight deck * flightiness * flightless * flight level * flight of fancy * flight path * flight recorder * flighty * in-flight, inflight * * maiden flight * midflight * overflight * preflight * spaceflight, space flight * take flight * time-of-flight * time-of-flight mass spectrometry * top-flight, topflight
    Related terms
    * (l)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) Fast, swift.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (cricket, of a spin bowler) To throw the ball in such a way that it has more airtime and more spin than usual.

    • See also

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl), from (etyl) flyht, from (etyl) . Cognate with Dutch vlucht and German Flucht (etymology 1).

    Noun

  • The act of fleeing.

    • Related terms

    * (l)

    plight

    English

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) ).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A dire or unfortunate situation.
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 10, author=Arindam Rej, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= Norwich 4-2 Newcastle , passage=A second Norwich goal in four minutes arrived after some dire Newcastle defending. Gosling gave the ball away with a sloppy back-pass, allowing Crofts to curl in a cross that the unmarked Morison powered in with a firm, 12-yard header. ΒΆ Gosling's plight worsened when he was soon shown a red card for a foul on Martin.}}
  • *2005 , Lesley Brown, translating Plato, Sophist , :
  • *:Though we say we are quite clear about it and understand when someone uses the expression, unlike that other expression, maybe we're in the same plight with regard to them both.
  • *, II.8:
  • *:although hee live in as good plight and health as may be, yet he chafeth, he scoldeth, he brawleth, he fighteth, he sweareth, and biteth, as the most boistrous and tempestuous master of France .
  • (obsolete) Good health.
  • *1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.7:
  • *:All wayes shee sought him to restore to plight , / With herbs, with charms, with counsel, and with teares.

    • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) . More at pledge.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Responsibility for ensuing consequences; risk; danger; peril.
  • An instance of danger or peril; a dangerous moment or situation.
  • Blame; culpability; fault; wrong-doing; sin; crime.
  • One's office; duty; charge.
  • (archaic) That which is exposed to risk; that which is plighted or pledged; security; a gage; a pledge.
  • * Shakespeare
    • that lord whose hand must take my plight
    Derived terms
    * (l) * (l)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To expose to risk; to pledge.
  • Specifically, to pledge (one's troth etc.) as part of a marriage ceremony.
  • (reflexive) To promise (oneself) to someone, or to do something.
  • * 1992 , Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety , Harper Perennial 2007, p. 226:
    • I ask what I have done to deserve it, one daughter hobnobbing with radicals and the other planning to plight herself to a criminal.
    Derived terms
    * (l)

    Etymology 3

    Through (etyl), from (etyl) and Danish flette are probably unrelated.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To weave; to braid; to fold; to plait.
  • * Milton
    • A plighted garment of divers colors.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A network; a plait; a fold; rarely a garment.
  • * Spenser
    • Many a folded plight .