*flight*

n. [ AS. fliht, flyht, a flying, fr. fleógan to fly; cf. flyht a fleeing, fr. fleón to flee, G. flucht a fleeing, Sw. flykt, G. flug a flying, Sw. flygt, D. vlugt a fleeing or flying, Dan. flugt. √84. See Flee, Fly. ] 1. The act of flying; a passing through the air by the help of wings; volitation; mode or style of flying. [ 1913 Webster ]

Like the night owl's lazy flight. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of fleeing; the act of running away, to escape danger or expected evil; hasty departure. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter. Matt. xxiv. 20. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fain by flight to save themselves. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Lofty elevation and excursion; a mounting; a soaring; as, a flight of imagination, ambition, folly. [ 1913 Webster ]

Could he have kept his spirit to that flight,
He had been happy. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

His highest flights were indeed far below those of Taylor. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A number of beings or things passing through the air together; especially, a flock of birds flying in company; the birds that fly or migrate together; the birds produced in one season; as, a flight of arrows. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

Swift flights of angels ministrant. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Like a flight of fowl
Scattered winds and tempestuous gusts. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A series of steps or stairs from one landing to another. Parker. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A kind of arrow for the longbow; also, the sport of shooting with it. See Shaft. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Challenged Cupid at the flight. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not a flight drawn home
E'er made that haste that they have. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. The husk or glume of oats. [ Prov. Eng. ] Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. a trip made by or in a flying vehicle, as an airplane, spacecraft, or aeronautical balloon. [ PJC ]

9. A scheduled flight{ 8 } on a commercial airline; as, the next flight leaves at 8 o'clock. [ PJC ]

Flight feathers (Zool.), the wing feathers of a bird, including the quills, coverts, and bastard wing. See Bird. --
To put to flight,
To turn to flight, to compel to run away; to force to flee; to rout. --
to take a flight{ 9 }, to make a trip in an airplane, especially a scheduled flight{ 9 }. [ 1913 Webster + PJC ]

Syn. -- Pair; set. See Pair. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Brewing) A horizontal vane revolving over the surface of wort in a cooler, to produce a circular current in the liquor. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a flighty manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being flighty. [ 1913 Webster ]

The flightness of her temper. Hawthorne.

Syn. -- Levity; giddiness; volatility; lightness; wildness; eccentricity. See Levity. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The distance to which an arrow or flight may be shot; bowshot, -- about the fifth of a mile. [ Prov. Eng. & Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Within a flight-shot it inthe valley. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

Half a flight-shot from the king's oak. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Fleeting; swift; transient. [ 1913 Webster ]

The flighty purpose never is o'ertook,
Unless the deed go with it. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Indulging in flights, or wild and unrestrained sallies, of imagination, humor, caprice, etc.; given to disordered fancies and extravagant conduct; volatile; giddy; eccentric; slighty delirious. [ 1913 Webster ]

Proofs of my flighty and paradoxical turn of mind. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

A harsh disciplinarian and a flighty enthusiast. J. S. Harford. [ 1913 Webster ]

. Flight, such as gliding and soaring, accomplished without the use of motive power. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. the process or event in which vehicles travel into outer space. [ PJC ]