night-flyn.
/ˈnʌɪtflʌɪ/, U.S. /ˈnaɪtˌflaɪ/ 1. A flying insect which is active at night.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > member of > unspecified > active at night
night-fly1600
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 (2nd issue) iii. i. 11 Why rather sleepe liest thou in smoaky cribbes,..And husht with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber.
a1745 T. Wharton Ode to Sleep in Poems Several Occasions (1748) 165 The Hind With weary Limbs and vacant Mind, By buzzing Night-Flies husht, requires No lulling Sounds from Lydian Lyres.
1767 G. S. Carey Hills of Hybla 2 Chasing the night-fly and the buzzing gnat.
1824 J. Symmons tr. Æschylus Agamemnon 81 Scared by the night-fly's solitary buzz.
1895 H. R. Haggard Heart of World xiv Great fish rising in pursuit of some night-fly.
1947 W. Stevens Late Hymn from Myrrh-mountain in Coll. Poems (1954) 349 The night-flies acknowledge these planets, Predestined to this night, this noise and the place Of summer.
2. Angling. An artificial fly used in night-fishing.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > means of attracting fish > [noun] > artificial fly > types of
moor flylOE
drake-flya1450
dub-flya1450
dun cut1496
dun fly1496
louper1496
red fly1616
moorish fly1635
palmer1653
palmer fly1653
red hackle1653
red palmer1653
shell-fly1653
orange fly1662
blackfly1669
dun1676
dun hackle1676
hackle1676
mayfly1676
peacock fly1676
thorn-tree fly1676
turkey-fly1676
violet-fly1676
whirling dun1676
badger fly1681
greenfly1686
moorish brown1689
prime dun1696
sandfly1700
grey midge1724
whirling blue1747
dun drake?1758
death drake1766
hackle fly1786
badger1787
blue1787
brown-fly1787
camel-brown1787
spinner1787
midge1799
night-fly1799
thorn-fly1799
turkey1799
withy-fly1799
grayling fly1811
sun fly1820
cock-a-bondy1835
brown moth1837
bunting-lark fly1837
governor1837
water-hen hackle1837
Waterloo fly1837
coachman1839
soldier palmer1839
blue jay1843
red tag1850
canary1855
white-tip1856
spider1857
bumble1859
doctor1860
ibis1863
Jock Scott1866
eagle1867
highlander1867
jay1867
John Scott1867
judge1867
parson1867
priest1867
snow-fly1867
Jack Scott1874
Alexandra1875
silver doctor1875
Alexandra fly1882
grackle1894
grizzly queen1894
heckle-fly1897
Zulu1898
thunder and lightning1910
streamer1919
Devon1924
peacock1950
1799 tr. Laboratory (ed. 6) II. x. 306 White night-fly. This fly is, in my opinion, preferable to the former.
1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports 246/1 The mealy-white night-fly.
1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports 246/1 The mealy-brown night-fly.
1867 F. Francis Bk. Angling vi. 212 The Coachman..is one of the best evening and night flies.
1996 Sunday News (Auckland) (Nexis) 23 June 47 Select night flies that are the shape of crayfish, cockabullies, smelt or any locally common surface food.
2001 Waikato Times (Hamilton, N.Z.) (Nexis) 19 July 2 The best rig..is a floating line, 3m leader, and a combination of a big marabou or pukeko night fly and a luminous fly on the dropper.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
night-flyv.
/ˌnʌɪtˈflʌɪ/, U.S. /ˈnaɪtˈflaɪ/ transitive and intransitive. To fly (an aircraft) at night.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > fly (in) an aircraft [verb (intransitive)] > at night
night-fly1927
1927 Daily Tel. 31 May 13/2 We night-fly regularly in America. It's the ideal time for flying in the States.
1954 P. Brickhill Reach for Sky 236 How many of your chaps can night-fly Hurricanes?
1973 ‘A. Hall’ Tango Briefing xviii. 222 ‘Is there any chance of a flarepath on that strip?’ ‘No. They don't night-fly.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1600v.1927