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Fly vs Spider - What's the difference?

fly | spider |

In slang|lang=en terms the difference between fly and spider

is that fly is (slang) beautiful; displaying physical beauty while spider is (slang) heroin (street drug).

As nouns the difference between fly and spider

is that fly is (zoology) any insect of the order diptera; characterized by having two wings, also called true flies or fly can be (obsolete) the action of flying; flight while spider is any of various eight-legged, predatory arthropods, of the order araneae , most of which spin webs to catch prey.

As verbs the difference between fly and spider

is that fly is to travel through the air, another gas or a vacuum, without being in contact with a grounded surface or fly can be (baseball) to hit a fly ball; to hit a fly ball that is caught for an out compare ground (verb) and line (verb) while spider is (internet|of a computer program) to follow links on the world wide web in order to gather information.

As an adjective fly

is (slang|dated) quick-witted, alert, mentally sharp, smart (in a mental sense).

fly

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) . Cognate with Scots flee, Dutch vlieg, German Fliege, Swedish fluga.

Noun

(flies)
  • (zoology) Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by having two wings, also called true flies.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-01
  • , author=Douglas Larson, volume=100, issue=1, page=46, magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Runaway Devils Lake , passage=Devils Lake is where I began my career as a limnologist in 1964, studying the lake’s neotenic salamanders and chironomids, or midge flies . […] The Devils Lake Basin is an endorheic, or closed, basin covering about 9,800 square kilometers in northeastern North Dakota.}}
  • (non-technical) Especially , any of the insects of the family Muscidae, such as the common housefly (other families of Diptera include mosquitoes and midges).
  • * , chapter=5
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose. And the queerer the cure for those ailings the bigger the attraction. A place like the Right Livers' Rest was bound to draw freaks, same as molasses draws flies .}}
  • Any similar, but unrelated insect such as dragonfly or butterfly.
  • (fishing) A lightweight fishing lure resembling an insect.
  • (weightlifting) A chest exercise performed by moving extended arms from the sides to in front of the chest. (also flye)
  • (obsolete) A witch's familiar.
  • * Ben Jonson
  • a trifling fly , none of your great familiars
  • (obsolete) A parasite.
  • (Massinger)
    Derived terms
    * blackfly * blowfly * botfly * caddis fly * cranefly * damselfly * dragonfly * drain fly * firefly * fly agaric * fly on the wall * flyswatter * flyweight * fruit fly * gadfly * greenfly * horsefly * housefly * hoverfly * march fly * mayfly * moth fly * no flies on * sandfly, sand fly * sawfly * warble fly * whitefly * wouldn't hurt a fly

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) flien, from (etyl) . More at flow.

    Verb

  • To travel through the air, another gas or a vacuum, without being in contact with a grounded surface.
  • *
  • Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-09-07, volume=408, issue=8852, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= On a bright new wing , passage=Flying using only the power of the sun is an enticing prospect. But manned solar-powered aircraft are fragile and slow, […].}}
  • (ambitransitive, archaic, poetic) To flee, to escape (from).
  • * (John Dryden)
  • Sleep flies the wretch.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
  • to fly the favours of so good a king
  • * (William Shakespeare)
  • Whither shall I fly to escape their hands?
  • * (John Milton)
  • Fly , ere evil intercept thy flight.
  • *
  • He staggered and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss. “Fly , you fools!” he cried, and was gone.
  • (ergative) To cause to fly (travel or float in the air): to transport via air or the like.
  • *
  • The brave black flag I fly .
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-09-07, volume=408, issue=8852, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= On a bright new wing , passage=A solar-powered unmanned aerial system (a UAS, more commonly called a drone) could fly long, lonely missions that conventional aircraft would not be capable of.}}
  • To be accepted, come about or work out.
  • To travel very fast.
  • * (John Milton)
  • Fly , envious Time, till thou run out thy race.
  • * Bryant
  • The dark waves murmured as the ships flew on.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 18, author=Ben Dirs, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia , passage=After yet another missed penalty by Kvirikashvili from bang in front of the posts, England scored again, centre Tuilagi flying into the line and touching down under the bar.}}
  • To move suddenly, or with violence; to do an act suddenly or swiftly.
  • To hunt with a hawk.
  • (Francis Bacon)
    Synonyms
    * (travel through air) soar, hover, wing, skim, glide, ascend, rise, float, aviate * (flee) escape, flee, abscond
    Antonyms
    * (travel through air) walk * (flee) remain, stay
    Derived terms
    * fly a kite * fly-by-night * fly into a rage * fly like a bird * fly like a rock * fly like the wind * fly off the handle * fly out the window * on the fly * overfly

    Noun

    (flies)
  • (obsolete) The action of flying; flight.
  • An act of flying.
  • (baseball) A fly ball.
  • A type of small, fast carriage (sometimes pluralised flys).
  • * 1897 , (Bram Stoker), (Dracula) , Folio Society 2008, p. 124:
  • As we left the house in my fly , which had been waiting, Van Helsing said:— ‘Tonight I can sleep in peace [...].’
  • * , chapter=16
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=“[…] She takes the whole thing with desperate seriousness. But the others are all easy and jovial—thinking about the good fare that is soon to be eaten, about the hired fly , about anything.”}}
  • *1924 , (Ford Madox Ford), Some Do Not…'', Penguin 2012 (''Parade's End ), p. 54:
  • *:And, driving back in the fly , Macmaster said to himself that you couldn't call Mrs. Duchemin ordinary, at least.
  • A piece of canvas that covers the opening at the front of a tent.
  • A strip of material hiding the zipper, buttons etc. at the front of a pair of trousers, pants, underpants, bootees, etc.
  • The free edge of a flag.
  • The horizontal length of a flag.
  • Butterfly, a form of swimming.
  • (weightlifting) An exercise that involves wide opening and closing of the arms perpendicular to the shoulders.
  • The part of a vane pointing the direction from which the wind blows.
  • (nautical) That part of a compass on which the points are marked; the compass card.
  • (Totten)
  • 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 heavy wheel, or cross arms with weights at the ends on a revolving axis, to regulate or equalize the motion of machinery by means of its inertia, where the power communicated, or the resistance to be overcome, is variable, as in the steam engine or the coining press. See fly wheel.
  • 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.
  • (Knight)
  • The pair of arms revolving around the bobbin, in a spinning wheel or spinning frame, to twist the yarn.
  • (weaving) A shuttle driven through the shed by a blow or jerk.
  • (Knight)
  • (printing, historical) The person who took the printed sheets from the press.
  • (printing, historical) A vibrating frame with fingers, attached to a power printing press for doing the same work.
  • One of the upper screens of a stage in a theatre.
  • Derived terms
    * flyman * fly-coach * fly system

    Verb

  • (baseball) To hit a fly ball; to hit a fly ball that is caught for an out. Compare ground (verb) and line (verb).
  • Jones flied to right in his last at-bat.

    Etymology 3

    Origin uncertain; probably from the verb or noun.

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (slang, dated) Quick-witted, alert, mentally sharp, smart (in a mental sense).
  • be assured, O man of sin—pilferer of small wares and petty larcener—that there is an eye within keenly glancing from some loophole contrived between accordions and tin breastplates that watches your every movement, and is "fly,"— to use a term peculiarly comprehensible to dishonest minds—to the slightest gesture of illegal conveyancing. (Charles Dickens, "Arcadia"; Household Words Vol.7 p.381)
  • (slang) Well dressed, smart in appearance.
  • He's pretty fly .
  • (slang) Beautiful; displaying physical beauty.
  • spider

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Any of various eight-legged, predatory arthropods, of the order Araneae , most of which spin webs to catch prey.
  • (Internet) A program which follows links on the World Wide Web in order to gather information.
  • (chiefly, Australia, and, New Zealand) A float (drink) made by mixing ice-cream and a soda or fizzy drink (such as lemonade).
  • * 2002', Katharine Gasparini, ''Cranberry and vanilla ice cream '''spider'' , recipe in ''Cool Food , page 339.
  • (slang) A spindly person.
  • (slang) A man who persistently approaches or accosts a woman in a public social setting, particularly in a bar.
  • (snooker, billiards) A stick with a convex arch-shaped notched head used to support the cue when the cue ball is out of reach at normal extension; a bridge.
  • (cookware, US, UK, historical) A cast-iron frying pan with three legs, once common in open-hearth cookery.
  • * 1846 , Mary Hooker Cornelius, The Young Housekeeper's Friend , page 146, recipe 28 “To fry salt pork”:
  • Cut slices and lay them in cold water in the spider'; boil them up two or three minutes, then pour off the water and set the ' spider again on the coals and brown the slices on each side.
  • * 2005 , Marty Davidson, Grandma Grace's Southern Favorites , recipe for “strawberry coconuts”, Rutledge Hill Press, ISBN 1-4016-0219-3, page 193:
  • In spider pan or deep skillet set over hot coals, quickly fry a few at a time in deep lard until brown.
  • * 2008 , Corona Club (San Francisco, California), Corona Club Cook Book , page 202,
  • Melt ½ the dry sugar in the spider , stirring with knife until all is melted.
  • (cookware) Implement for moving food in and out of hot oil for deep frying, with a circular metal mesh attached to a long handle.
  • * 1996 , City and Guilds of London Institute, Food preparation and cooking. Cookery units. Student guide. , Stanley Thornes, ISBN 0-7487-2566-0, unit 2ND5, element 2, page 157:
  • If you are deep-frying your falafel, use a spider or basket to place them gently into the hot oil, which should be preheated to a temperature of 175°C (330°F).
  • * 2008 , Anna Kasabian and David Kasabian, The Wild Fish Cookbook , Creative Publishing International, ISBN 1-58923-317-4, page 84:
  • Consider investing in a frying basket or a spider' for small amounts of fish. A ' spider looks like a metal web and has a long handle and can lower and raise fish from the hot oil.
  • A part of a crank, to which the chainrings are attached
  • (slang) Heroin (street drug).
  • (music) Part of a resonator instrument that transmits string vibrations from the bridge to a resonator cone at multiple points.
  • A skeleton or frame with radiating arms or members, often connected by crosspieces, such as a casting forming the hub and spokes to which the rim of a fly wheel or large gear is bolted; the body of a piston head; or a frame for strengthening a core or mould for a casting.
  • Derived terms

    * (assassin spider) * (coconut spider) * (pelican spider) * spiderdom * spidership * spidery

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (Internet, of a computer program) to follow links on the World Wide Web in order to gather information.
  • ''The online dictionary is regularly spidered by search engines.

    Derived terms

    * Web spidering

    See also

    * arachnid * (wikipedia)

    Anagrams

    * ----