flying circus
Americannoun
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a squadron of airplanes operating together, especially any of several squadrons of famous World War I aviators.
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a carnival troupe, or the like, offering exhibitions of stunt flying at fairs, circuses, etc.
noun
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an exhibition of aircraft aerobatics
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the aircraft and men who take part in such exhibitions
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 later returned from the war and was a part of a flying circus show that performed airborne acrobatics.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2021
That anger gives way to a blueprint for how to direct a reunion show swirling with so many moving parts, it practically became its own flying circus.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 20, 2018
Nevada’s defense has improved under the watchful eye of new coordinator Andy Buh, but facing the Warriors’ flying circus at Aloha Stadium will be too much to handle.
From Newsweek ● Oct. 13, 2010
At 16, she trained as a contemporary dancer and then worked as a wing-walker for a flying circus, performing stunts while strapped to the upper wing of a biplane, dressed in a scarlet jumpsuit.
From New York Times ● Aug. 10, 2010
The German heroes were the celebrated Captain Boelke, and the no less famous inventor of the "flying circus," Count von Richthofen.
From History of the World War An Authentic Narrative of the World's Greatest War by Francis Andrew March
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
