flying colours

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pl n

conspicuous success; triumphhe passed his test with flying colours

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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Words nearby flying colours

flying boxcar, flying bridge, flying buttress, flying circus, flying colors, flying colours, flying column, flying doctor, flying dragon, Flying Dustbin, Flying Dutchman

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

How to use flying colours in a sentence

That ground hold was to stop you flying through weather that could kill you and everyone else aboard.
Annoying Airport Delays Might Prevent You From Becoming the Next AirAsia 8501|Clive Irving|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The copilot on Flight 8501 was Remi Emmanuel Piesel, 46, who despite his age had just 2,275 hours of flying experience.
Annoying Airport Delays Might Prevent You From Becoming the Next AirAsia 8501|Clive Irving|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Inevitably, the old visceral “hands-on” flying skills, no longer much employed by pilots, have atrophied like an unused limb.
Flight 8501 Poses Question: Are Modern Jets Too Automated to Fly?|Clive Irving|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The “pilot flying” was more probably the far less experienced copilot.
Flight 8501 Poses Question: Are Modern Jets Too Automated to Fly?|Clive Irving|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST

One report has the AirAsia Airbus flying at a speed very close to what would trigger a low speed stall.
Did Bad Weather Bring Down AirAsia 8501?|Clive Irving|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I asked him to tell me how he produced a certain effect he makes in his arrangement of the ballad in Wagner's Flying Dutchman.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
Liking for a single colour is a considerably smaller display of mind than an appreciation of the relation of two colours.
Children's Ways|James Sully
These Eskimos were very fond of kite-flying, for its own sake, without reference to utility!
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
Admiration for brilliant colours, for moving things, such as feathers, is common to the two.
Children's Ways|James Sully
Pretty well for "a cross between an Astley's chariot, a flying machine and a treadmill."
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley