flight

n.

1. 1. The motion of an object in or through a medium, especially through the earth's atmosphere or through space.
   2. An instance of such motion.
   3. The distance covered in such motion.
2. 1. The act or process of flying through the air by means of wings.
   2. The ability to fly.
3. A swift passage or movement.
4. A scheduled airline run or trip.
5. A group, especially of birds or aircraft, flying together. See synonyms at flock¹.
6. A number of aircraft in the U.S. Air Force forming a subdivision of a squadron.
7. A round of competition, as in a sports tournament.
8. An exuberant or transcendent effort or display: a flight of the imagination; flights of oratory.
9. A series of stairs rising from one landing to another.

intr.v., flight·ed, flight·ing, flights.

To migrate or fly in flocks.

[Middle English, from Old English flyht.]

flight² (flīt)
n.

The act or an instance of running away; an escape.

[Middle English, from Old English *flyht.]

Movement through the atmosphere or space, sustained by aerodynamic reaction or other forces. Animal flight includes gliding and flapping flight. Flapping flight in vertebrates was probably preceded by gliding; in insects it may have originated by leaping and gliding, by surface skimming on water, or (if small enough) by passive floating in the air. Flying insects show greater variation than flying vertebrates, and their flight spans a wider range of Reynolds numbers, which is the ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces in the flow. Flight of tiny insects is in the lower range of Reynolds numbers, where viscous forces are dominant, whereas large insects and vertebrates operate in the higher range, where inertial forces are important.

Flight is very expensive in terms of energy cost per unit time. However, flying animals can travel several times faster than nonflying ones, and the cost of carrying a unit of weight of an animal through a unit distance (cost of transport) is lower for flight than for running, but higher than for swimming.

The flight characteristics of large insects and vertebrates can be understood by aircraft aerodynamics. In steady level flight, an animal and an aircraft must generate forces that support weight against gravity and provide propulsive thrust against drag forces. The forces acting on an airfoil (the shape of the cross section of the wings) moving through the air depend upon the flow pattern around it. Because of the asymmetric profile on an airfoil, the air flowing over the upper surface travels farther and flows faster than air passing underneath. According to Bernoulli's principle, pressure falls when speed rises in a moving fluid, resulting in a pressure difference between the upper and lower sides of the airfoil (illus. a). This pressure difference has to disappear gradually toward the wingtips, and some air will flow upward around the wingtips. The air moves downward behind the wing as trailing vortices (illus. b), and the reaction of this momentum flow is experienced by the wing as lift. The stronger the vortex, the greater the lift generated, but with some energy loss to drag. The lift force is responsible for weight support (its vertical component) and thrust or drag (its horizontal component). See also Aerodynamic force; Airfoil; Bernoulli's theorem.

Aerodynamics of flight. (a) Airflow around a typical wing profile. (b) Pressure distribution around a typical wing profile. (c) The difference in pressure disappears toward the wingtips as trailing vortices in the wake. (After M. Brooke and T. Birkhead, eds., Cambridge Encyclopedia of Ornithology, Cambridge University Press, 1991)

Energy must be expended to generate the trailing vortices in the wake and to overcome friction on the wing and body surfaces. These energy losses are experienced as drag forces, which act parallel to the direction of movement of the airfoil. Since drag is a retarding force, the animal must either descend (glide) through the air at such an angle that a component of its weight balances the drag, or do mechanical work with its flight muscles (flap its wings) to overcome it. The rate at which this work is done is the mechanical power required to fly, and it equals speed times drag (measured in watts). The flight muscles also produce heat when they contract, so the total metabolic power expenditure is the sum of this heat loss and the mechanical power. The metabolic power is estimated to be four to five times the mechanical power, and is dependent on the size of the animal. See also Work.

Compared with active flight, gliding flight is very inexpensive, and is found in a wide range of animals, such as squirrels, marsupials, lizards, frogs, fishes, and even one snake. It is the main component in soaring flight used by many birds and some bats, when the animals use thermals or updrafts. Gliding in birds costs only two to three times the basal metabolic rate, because the flight muscles do not perform any mechanical work other than for stability and control of movements, and produce mostly static forces to keep the wings down on the horizontal plane, opposing the aerodynamic force.

When gliding, the wings of the animal leave behind a continuous vortex sheet that rolls up into a pair of vortex tubes (wingtip vortices), as in fixed-wing airplanes (illus. b). The lift produced balances the animal's weight, but potential energy must be used to overcome the drag and the animal loses height. An animal gliding at steady speed descends at an angle to the horizontal (glide angle), established by the ratio of lift to drag (glide ratio). The best glide ratios in birds range from 10:1 to 15:1 for vultures and birds of prey and reach 23:1 in the wandering albatross, whereas modern gliders can achieve 45:1. An animal cannot glide more slowly than its stalling speed, which in birds can be reduced by splaying the wingtip primaries, or by spreading the alula (a digit of the wing) at the wrist, or both. An animal can increase its gliding speed by flexing the wings and reducing the wing area.

Hovering flight represents the most expensive form of animal flapping flight. The essence of hovering is to produce a vertical force to balance body weight. The wake consists of a chain of vortex rings continuously shed during the wing strokes. In hummingbirds and insects, lift is produced during both the downstroke and upstroke of the wings (symmetrical hovering), and two vortex rings are produced during each wing stroke. In other hovering animals the wings are flexed during the upstroke (asymmetrical hovering), and the rings are produced during the downstrokes only. See also Aerodynamics; Aves.

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1. Term used in media scheduling that indicates the length of the advertising period. Typically, an advertising campaign runs for a specified number of weeks, followed by a period of inactivity, and then is resumed. Each activity period is known as a flight. This spacing prevents overexposure to the advertisement or commercial without allowing the message to be forgotten. It also reduces media expenditures.

2. Part of a promotional campaign conducted in segments over time, such as a direct-mail advertising campaign with a series of drops.

Each flight in a direct-mail campaign is generally larger than the previous one and is not mailed until the success of the previous flight is confirmed. The final and largest mailing is called the roll out. See also flash count; pyramiding; weigh count.

noun

The act or an instance of escaping, as from confinement or difficulty: break, breakout, decampment, escape, escapement, getaway. Slang lam. See free/unfree.

Idioms beginning with flight:
flight of fancy

See also put to flight; take flight.

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n

Definition: fleeing; departure
Antonyms: standing, staying, waiting

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n. 1. the movement or trajectory of a projectile through the air.

2. a group of aircraft operating together, especially an air force unit of about six aircraft: a refueling mission in which his crew topped off three flights of four F-16A jets.

3. the action of fleeing or attempting to escape: refugees on the latest stage of their flight from turmoil.

in full flight escaping as fast as possible.

put someone/something to flight cause someone or something to flee:

a soldier who held off, and eventually put to flight, waves of attackers.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

A continuous series of steps with no intermediate landings.

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Any leaving or self-concealment to avoid arrest or prosecution after arrest; 184 A. 2d 321, 323; the act of leaving the scene of the crime, done by one who feels guilt, in order to avoid arrest. See also abscond; fugitive from justice.

(DOD) 1. In Navy and Marine Corps usage, a specified group of aircraft usually engaged in a common mission. 2. The basic tactical unit in the Air Force, consisting of four or more aircraft in two or more elements. 3. A single aircraft airborne on a nonoperational mission.

When people before the Montgolfier brothers thought of human flight, they pictured birds. Leonardo da Vinci was one of the few who proposed a different concept, the helicopter. But early in the 17th century the barometer was invented by Evangelista Torricelli, and Blaise Pascal used it to show that not only does air have weight, but also air density decreases with altitude. Soon the Jesuit monk Francesco de Lana realized that an evacuated globe should float on the heavier air. A Dominican friar, Joseph Galien, pictured capturing less dense air from the top of a mountain and dragging it downhill until it reached a level that would cause a craft attached to it to float. These impractical schemes embodied the idea that flight could be accomplished by the quiet mechanism that buoys a ship in water instead of by frantic activity.

Joseph and Jacques Etienne Montgolfier came from a family of paper makers, so it should come as no surprise that their idea for flight would be realized in paper. All accounts credit older brother Joseph with the original notion, but differ on whether it was inspired by watching bits of burning paper fly into the sky or by reading about experiments that described different gases with different weights. The brothers are thought never to have understood that a hot-air balloon floats because warm air is less dense than cold air. Instead, they believed that burning produced a gas different from air that was also lighter than air. In any case, Joseph began in 1783 with a small paper balloon filled with hot air by holding it over a fire. A stronger silk balloon, similarly inflated, rose to about 21 m (70 ft). By June 4 of that year the brothers had made a sphere 11 m (36 ft) in diameter of linen lined with their family's paper to retain the gas. Their first public demonstration was in Annonay, France, south of Lyon and west of Grenoble. The balloon rose to a considerable height and floated in the air for ten minutes, coming down about 2.4 km (1.5 mi) away from the launch site. On landing, however, the fire suspended below the balloon lit the paper and the balloon burned. Word of this experiment quickly reached Paris. A public fund was set up in Paris to have a local scientist, Jacques Charles, duplicate the Montgolfier feat.

Charles, however, did not know how the Montgolfiers got their balloon to fly. He had been experimenting with hydrogen, which he knew to be lighter than air. Therefore, he began constructing a hydrogen balloon. He had to produce thousands of times as much free hydrogen as had ever been previously made -- hydrogen had been known for less than 20 years. Charles and his assistants managed not to blow themselves up and succeeded in conducting the semipublic experiment -- you had to have a ticket to get close to the 3.6-m (12-ft) balloon. When released, it shot straight up and quickly disappeared.

In the meantime, Jacques Etienne Montgolfier was also in Paris trying to arrange for a public demonstration of his own. He secured the support of Louis XVI and funding from the government. The second full-size hot-air balloon was 21 m (70 ft) tall, 12 m (40 ft) wide, and decorated like 18th-century wallpaper. This was because It was constructed with the help of another paper manufacturer, Jean-Baptiste Révillon, who made wallpaper. Unfortunately, the first attempt to fly the balloon ended in disaster when heavy rain dissolved the wallpaper. A third balloon was built, this time from taffeta coated with varnish. This balloon carried a sheep, a rooster, and a duck for about two miles in about eight minutes, landing gently enough not to harm the animals.

Competition now developed between the Montgolfier team and the Charles team to get the first human aloft. Although there are hints that the Montgolfier team might have achieved this even earlier, they definitely won with a public launch on the outskirts of Paris. François Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis 'd'Arlandes flew across Paris for over 20 minutes, but then lost their nerve and let the fire die so that the vehicle would descend. Ten days later, Charles and a member of his team made the first hydrogen balloon flight. But it was too late. The Montgolfiers would always be known as the people who gave humanity flight.

Before the end of 1783, several humans had made their first flights in hot-air balloons, sometimes called Montgolfieres, and also in Charles's hydrogen-filled devices. But it was not until January 10, 1784, that a Montgolfier brother ascended -- Joseph was part of a successful flight in Lyon that included six other passengers. That was the only trip for Joseph, and Jacques-Etienne never did fly.

IN BRIEF: A trip through the air, as by an airplane or bird.

Their flight was delighted because of the storm.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - flyvning, flugt, flok, trappe, skarp rejsning
v. tr. - variere boldafleveringen, sætte styrefjer på
v. intr. - flyve i flok

idioms:

• flight deck    cockpit
• flight lieutenant    kaptajn (løjtnant)
• flight of fancy    fiks ide
• flight path    flyvevej
• flight recorder    black box, flyets automatiske logbog
• put to flight    jage på flugt
• take flight    tage flugten

2.
n. - flugt

idioms:

• take to flight    tage flugten

Nederlands (Dutch)
vlucht, vliegreis, snelle beweging, deel v. een eskadron, snelle voorbijgang (van tijd), salvo, route van een kogel etc., trap, pijlstaart, zwerm, vliegen in een zwerm

Français (French)
1.
n. - (Aérosp, Aviat, Transp) vol, vol (d'oiseaux), trajectoire (d'un missile), (Sport) série (de haies), (gén) élans (d'imagination), envolées (oratoires), volée (d'oiseaux), volée (de marches)
v. tr. - lancer/envoyer un ballon dans le mille, empenner (une flèche)
v. intr. - voler en mouvements coordonnées (des oiseaux), envoyer un ballon dans le mille

idioms:

• flight deck    (Aviat) poste de pilotage, navigants techniques, (Naut) pont d'envol
• flight lieutenant    (Mil) capitaine (de l'armée de l'air)
• flight of fancy    vol d'agrément
• flight path    route de vol
• flight recorder    enregistreur de vol
• put to flight    mettre en vol
• take flight    prendre vol

2.
n. - fuite

idioms:

• take to flight    prendre la fuite

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Flug, Schwarm
v. - (sport) einen Ball einwerfen, mit Federn versehen, in Schwärmen fliegen

idioms:

• flight deck    Flugdeck, Cockpit
• flight lieutenant    Hauptmann der Luftwaffe
• flight of fancy    Illusion, Einbildung
• flight path    Flugbahn
• flight recorder    Flugschreiber
• put to flight    in die Flucht schlagen
• take flight    die Flucht ergreifen

2.
n. - Flucht

idioms:

• take to flight    die Flucht ergreifen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - πτήση, πέταγμα, φυγή, (οικοδ.) σκάλα, σμήνος, διαδρομή (με αεροπλάνο)
attrib. - της πτήσης

idioms:

• flight deck    (ναυτ.) κατάστρωμα απογειώσεως αεροπλανοφόρου
• flight lieutenant    (στρατ.) σμηναγός
• flight of fancy    φαντασίωση
• flight path    πορεία/τροχιά πτήσεως
• flight recorder    (τεχνολ.) όργανο καταγραφής των τεχνικών στοιχείων πτήσεως (κν. μαύρο κουτί)
• put to flight    τρέπω σε (άτακτη) φυγή
• take flight    τρέπομαι σε φυγή, λακίζω

Italiano (Italian)
volo, fuga, scalinata, sciame, stormo, esilio

idioms:

• flight deck    ponte di decollo
• flight lieutenant    tenente pilota
• flight of fancy    volo di fantasia
• flight path    rotta di volo
• flight recorder    registratore di volo
• put to flight    provocare la fuga
• take flight    darsi alla fuga

Português (Portuguese)
n. - vôo (m), bando (de aves) (m), fuga (f)

idioms:

• flight deck    cabine (f) de comando de avião
• flight lieutenant    capitão-voador (m) (Força Aérea Britânica)
• flight of fancy    devaneio
• flight path    trajetória de vôo
• flight recorder    caixa (f) preta do avião
• put to flight    botar para correr (gír.)
• take flight    fugir

Русский (Russian)
полет, перелет, рейс, быстрое течение времени, порыв, отряд самолетов, лестничный пролет, побег, утечка

idioms:

• flight deck    кабина экипажа, полетная палуба
• flight lieutenant    капитан авиации (Великобритания)
• flight of fancy    полет фантазии
• flight path    курс полета
• flight recorder    бортовой самописец
• put to flight    прогнать
• take flight    сбежать

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - recorrido, trayectoria, vuelo, viaje en avión, escuadrilla, bandada, enjambre, descarga, tramo de escalera
v. tr. - tirar una pelota en forma precisa, emplumar
v. intr. - volar en bandada

idioms:

• flight deck    cubierta de aterrizaje, cabina de mando/piloto
• flight lieutenant    capitán de la Fuerza Aérea
• flight of fancy    vuelo de la imaginación
• flight path    trayectoria de vuelo
• flight recorder    caja negra (del avión)
• put to flight    poner en fuga
• take flight    huir

2.
n. - huida, evasión, fuga

idioms:

• take to flight    darse a la fuga

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - flykt, flygning
attr. - flyg-

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
飞行, 飞跃, 逃走, 飞机, 班次, 搭机旅行, 射击, 使惊飞, 成群飞行, 迁徙

idioms:

• flight deck    航空母舰的飞行甲板
• flight lieutenant    空军上尉
• flight of fancy    奇想, 胡思乱想
• flight path    飞行路线, 航线
• flight recorder    飞行记录器
• put to flight    击溃
• take flight    失败逃跑

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
1.
n. - 飛行
v. tr. - 射擊, 使驚飛
v. intr. - 遷徙

idioms:

• flight deck    航空母艦的飛行甲板
• flight lieutenant    空軍上尉
• flight of fancy    奇想, 胡思亂想
• flight path    飛行路線, 航線
• flight recorder    飛行記錄器
• put to flight    擊潰
• take flight    失敗逃跑

2.
n. - 飛行, 飛躍, 逃走, 飛機, 班次, 搭機旅行

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - 날기, 비행기 여행, 비약
v. tr. - (스포츠에서) 공을 정확하게 던지거나 차다, 깃털을 붙이다
v. intr. - 떼지어 날다

idioms:

• put to flight    패주 시키다
• take flight    도망치다

2.
n. - 도주 탈출

idioms:

• take to flight    도망치다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 飛ぶこと, 飛行, 飛行距離, 便, 飛行機, 早い経過, 速い動き, 群れ, 一団, 敗走, 定期便, 操縦法, 経過, 一続きの階段

idioms:

• flight deck    飛行甲板, フライトデッキ
• flight lieutenant    航空大尉
• flight of fancy    現実とかけ離れた空想
• flight of stairs    階段, ひと続きの階段
• flight path    飛行経路
• flight recorder    フライトレコーダー
• put to flight    敗走させる
• scheduled flight    定期便
• take flight    逃げる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) طيران , رحله جويه (صفه) طيران‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮טיסה, תעופה, להקה, התעלות, מנוסה, בריחה, גף, מערכת מדרגות‬
v. intr. - ‮חיבר נוצות לראש-חץ, ירה בציפורים באוויר‬
n. - ‮מנוסה, בריחה‬

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flight	Flight Suit
Nike Flight	flight simulator