as the crow flies

Cultural  

1. The most direct route between two places: “From here to Gold Bar, it's only ten miles as the crow flies, but twenty miles by the winding mountain road.”

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as the crow flies Idioms  

1. In a straight line, by the shortest route, as in It's only a mile as the crow flies, but about three miles by this mountain road. This idiom is based on the fact that crows, very intelligent birds, fly straight to the nearest food supply. [Late 1700s]

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Example Sentences

It was only when samples arrived at the biomedical research laboratory in the capital Kinshasa -- nearly 1,800 kilometres away as the crow flies -- that the Ebola outbreak was confirmed.

From Barron's • May 24, 2026

We had a house at the top of Mount Washington where, on a clear day, I could see the downtown skyscrapers surrounding my office—five minutes, as the crow flies.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025

"We said that a gold mine in Erzincan, which is on an active fault line and 300m away from the Euphrates River as the crow flies, is very dangerous," Mr Torun said.

From BBC • Feb. 14, 2024

On a clear day from the 4,200-foot summit, you can see San Francisco to the north, as well as the entrance to Yosemite Valley, 120 miles east, as the crow flies.

From New York Times • Nov. 7, 2023

Anyway, Gladiola is a good five hundred miles from Sassafras Springs as the crow flies.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney