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dry fly

noun Angling.
  1. an artificial fly designed for use on the surface of the water.
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Compare wet fly.

Origin of dry fly

First recorded in 1840–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for dry fly

Historical Examples

  • They were eager to convert me to what they claimed was the dry-fly class angling of the sea.

    Tales of Fishes

    Zane Grey

  • But how little of this dry-fly work is tried upon our numerous lochs?

    Chats on Angling

    H. V. Hart-Davis

  • There is a good deal of prejudice against the "chuck-and-chance-it" style among the advocates of the dry-fly method of fishing.

    A Cotswold Village

    J. Arthur Gibbs

  • Every dry-fly angler, moreover, knows full well how soon constant casting and drying the fly tires and cramps the wrist and arm.

    Chats on Angling

    H. V. Hart-Davis

  • Quite lately, however, there has been a movement in favour of light rods for dry-fly fishing as well as wet-fly fishing.

British Dictionary definitions for dry fly

dry fly

noun
  1. angling
    1. an artificial fly designed and prepared to be floated or skimmed on the surface of the water
    2. (as modifier)dry-fly fishing
    Compare wet fly
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012