flight

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

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

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act or power of flying; a passing through the air by the help of wings; volitation.
2. n. Swift motion in general; rapid movement or passage caused by any propelling force: as, the flight of a missile; a meteor's flight; the flight of a fish toward its prey; the flight of a rapidly revolving wheel.
3. n. A number of beings or things flying or passing through the air together; especially, a flock of birds flying in company; the birds that fly or migrate together; the birds produced in the same season: applied specifically in the old language of English sport to doves and swallows, and in America to pigeons, and also to a swarm of bees.
4. n. Figuratively, an excursion or sally; a passing out of or beyond a fixed course; a mounting or soaring: as, a flight of imagination or fancy; a flight of ambition or of temper.
5. n. In archery: The sport of shooting arrows in the manner now called roving—that is, with roving aim instead of at a butt. See rover.
6. n. Shooting with the longbow in general, as distinguished from the use of the crossbow. See flight-arrow.
7. n. A continuous series of steps or stairs; the part of a stairway extending directly from one floor or one landing to another.
8. n. The glume or husk of oats.
9. n. The thin membrane which is detached from the coffee-berry in the process of roasting.
10. n. In the clapper of a bell, the dependent piece or weight below the striking part; the tail.
11. n. In machinery: The inclination of the arm of a crane or of a cat-head.
12. n. A wing or fin; a fan.
13. n. Synonyms 3. See flock, n.
14. Swift in transit.
15. In sporting, belonging to a flight or flock.
16. n. The act of fleeing; the act of running away to escape danger or expected evil; hasty departure.
17. To put to flight; rout; frighten away.
18. n. An obsolete spelling of flite.
19. n. In archery: The course of an arrow through the air.
20. n. The distance traversed by an arrow.
21. n. In mach.: A wing or scraper, pushed or pulled through the trough of a conveyer by a chain, to drag the load through it.
22. n. A flat bucket or vane on the periphery of a wheel-pump or on the chain which it drives. In practice this vane is made to traverse a pipe or box which prevents the water from flowing back, and as such pumps are used for only very low lifts, a fair percentage of the water is carried up.
23. n. Same as flyboat.
24. n. In angling, the set of spinning-baits attached by the trace to the reel-line in a spinning-tackle.
25. n. A primary, flight-feather, or remex: a term commonly used by pigeon-fanciers.
26. n. The distance a bird may or does fly; the height at which it flies: in these senses, largely figurative.
27. n. A group of three or more locks situated in such close proximity along a canal that the level of water between any two adjacent locks of the series may economically be raised and lowered to produce a lift: in distinction from locks arranged in isolated pairs with considerable distance between the different pairs. A greater number of lifts, and hence a greater aggregate height of lift, can be accomplished by a given number of locks if arranged in a flight than if the same number are arranged in isolated pairs.
28. To take flight; fly: an English sporting use.
29. To shoot (wildfowl) in their flight to or from their feeding-grounds.

Wiktionary

1. n. The act of flying.
2. n. An instance of flying.
3. n. A collective term for doves or swallows.
4. n. A journey made by an aircraft, eg a balloon, plane or space shuttle, particularly one between two airports, which needs to be reserved in advance.
5. n. The act of fleeing. (Flight is the noun which corresponds to the verb flee.)
6. n. A set of stairs or an escalator. A series of stairs between landings.
7. n. A floor which is reached by stairs or escalators.
8. n. A feather on an arrow or dart used to help it follow an even path.
9. n. A paper plane.
10. n. cricket The movement of a spinning ball through the air - concerns its speed, trajectory and drift.
11. n. The ballistic trajectory of an arrow or other projectile.
12. n. An aerodynamic surface designed to guide such a projectile's trajectory.
13. n. Act of fleeing of a refugee or a fugitive.
14. n. An air force unit.
15. n. Several sample glasses of a specific wine varietal or other beverage. The pours are smaller than a full glass and the flight will generally include three to five different samples.
16. n. engineering The shaped material forming the thread of a screw.
17. adj. obsolete Fast, swift.
18. v. cricket To throw the ball in such a way that it has more airtime and more spin than usual.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The act of flying; a passing through the air by the help of wings; volitation; mode or style of flying.
2. n. The act of fleeing; the act of running away, to escape danger or expected evil; hasty departure.
3. n. Lofty elevation and excursion; a mounting; a soaring.
4. n. 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.
5. n. A series of steps or stairs from one landing to another.
6. n. obsolete A kind of arrow for the longbow; also, the sport of shooting with it. See Shaft.
7. n. Prov. Eng. The husk or glume of oats.
8. n. a trip made by or in a flying vehicle, as an airplane, spacecraft, or aeronautical balloon.
9. n. A scheduled flight{8} on a commercial airline.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. passing above and beyond ordinary bounds
2. n. a stairway (set of steps) between one floor or landing and the next
3. v. fly in a flock
4. n. an instance of traveling by air
5. n. a scheduled trip by plane between designated airports
6. v. shoot a bird in flight
7. v. decorate with feathers
8. n. a flock of flying birds
9. n. a formation of aircraft in flight
10. n. an air force unit smaller than a squadron
11. n. the path followed by an object moving through space
12. n. the act of escaping physically