on the fly

Idioms

In a hurry, on the run, as in I picked up some groceries on the fly. The transfer of this expression, which literally means “in midair or in flight,” dates from the mid-1800s.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“He’s an incredible talent who has an awesome ceiling, and he’s got an incredible future. But in a game like tonight — he’s learning. You can see it out there. He’s learning on the fly.”

From Los Angeles Times

“We need to speed up and shorten the innovation cycle,” he says, pointing to the situation in Ukraine where front-line units and manufacturers collaborate to improve weapons on the fly.

From The Wall Street Journal

To make up for it, he pulled out a completely different jumping pass on the fly, starting with a different quad—-and then landed another fiendish combination.

From The Wall Street Journal

Only after his thirteenth shot did he finally rip the camera from its tripod, run for his car, take one more picture on the fly, and stuff the camera bag under his seat.

From Literature

“Lack of air superiority over the Channel,” Welchman read aloud, translating the German on the fly.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023