| 释义 |
ˈfly-by-night
[f. the vbl. phrase.]
1. One who flies by night; one addicted to nocturnal excursions (see also quot. 1796. Also slang, one who defrauds his landlord or creditors by decamping in the night.
1796Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue (ed. 3) s.v., You old fly-by-night; an ancient term of reproach to an old woman, signifying that she was a witch. 1822T. L. Peacock Maid Marian iii. 191 Would you have her married to a wild fly-by-night that accident made an earl and nature a deer-stealer? 1823‘Jon Bee’ Slang, Fly-by-night, runaways who leave empty houses. 1894Daily News 23 Oct. 4/7 The majority of the race [of moths] are fly-by-nights. 1903G. S. Wasson Cap'n Simeon's Store 72 Blowed ef 't wa'n't downright horrid the works them two ole fly-by-nights was into them days! 1925A. Huxley Those Barren Leaves ii. v. 151 When the next full moon invites New bugaboos and fly-by-nights.
attrib.1810W. Combe Devil upon Two Sticks (1817) VI. 73 ‘The Fly by Night Club’, whose symbol is an owl. 1914J. London Let. 25 June (1966) 425, I have no patience with fly-by-night philosophers such as Bergson. 1938‘N. Shute’ Ruined City (ed. 2) i. 5 We've come to you rather than to one of them fly-by-night financial houses because we're prudent business folk. 1958E. Dundy Dud Avocado i. vi. 96 This is no fly-by-night proposition. 1971Guardian 12 July 7/3 It is not all heart in the mini-cab world. Far too many are fly-by-night hustlers.
2. a. = fly n.2 3 b. b. Naut. (See quot.)
1818Sporting Mag. II. 6 A species of carriage, which in Gloucestershire, goes by the name of ‘Fly-by-Night’. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Fly-by-night, a sort of square-sail, like a studding-sail, used in sloops when running before the wind. |