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fley

[ fley ]
/ fleɪ /
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verb, fleyed, fley·ing.Chiefly Scot.
to frighten; terrify.
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Origin of fley

1175–1225; Middle English flaien,fleien,Old English -flīgan (in ā-flȳgan); cognate with Old Norse fleygia to cause to fly. Cf. fly2

OTHER WORDS FROM fley

fley·ed·ly [fley-id-lee], /ˈfleɪ ɪd li/, adverbfley·ed·ness, noun

Words nearby fley

flextime, flexuosity, flexuous, flexure, flex-wing, fley, flibbert, flibbertigibbet, flic, flicflac, flichter
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use fley in a sentence

  • The two cottages, with plenty of room for the Fley's family and eight boys, with half an acre of garden at 11.

    Life of John Coleridge Patteson|Charlotte M. Yonge

  • Warn't yo fley'd o' meetin' th' de'il this morning as yo coom across Langfield Moor?'

    Lancashire Humour|Thomas Newbigging

  • We micht maybe hae managed to gie the deil a bit fley by haudin' the muckle Bible to his e'e.

    Cleg Kelly, Arab of the City|S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett

  • Sigrun asks Helge: Hverir lata fljota fley vid backa, hvar hermegir heima eigud?

    Teutonic Mythology, Vol. 1 of 3|Viktor Rydberg, Ph.D.

British Dictionary definitions for fley

fley

flay

/ (fleɪ) /
verb Scot and Northern English dialect
to be afraid or cause to be afraid
(tr) to frighten away; scare

Word Origin for fley

Old English āflēgan to put to flight; related to Old Norse fleygja
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
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