\Fly"ing\, a. [From {Fly}, v. i.]
Moving in the air with, or as with, wings; moving lightly or
rapidly; intended for rapid movement.
{Flying army} (Mil.) a body of cavalry and infantry, kept in
   motion, to cover its own garrisons and to keep the enemy
   in continual alarm. --Farrow.
{Flying artillery} (Mil.), artillery trained to rapid
   evolutions, -- the men being either mounted or trained to
   spring upon the guns and caissons when they change
   position.
{Flying bridge}, {Flying camp}. See under {Bridge}, and
   {Camp}.
{Flying buttress} (Arch.), a contrivance for taking up the
   thrust of a roof or vault which can not be supported by
   ordinary buttresses. It consists of a straight bar of
   masonry, usually sloping, carried on an arch, and a solid
   pier or buttress sufficient to receive the thrust. The
   word is generally applied only to the straight bar with
   supporting arch.
{Flying colors}, flags unfurled and waving in the air; hence:
{To come off with flying colors}, to be victorious; to
   succeed thoroughly in an undertaking.
{Flying doe} (Zo["o]l.), a young female kangaroo.
{Flying dragon}.
(a) (Zo["o]l.) See {Dragon}, 6.
(b) A meteor. See under {Dragon}.
{Flying Dutchman}.
(a) A fabled Dutch mariner condemned for his crimes to sail
    the seas till the day of judgment.
(b) A spectral ship.
{Flying fish}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Flying fish}, in the
   Vocabulary.
{Flying fox} (Zo["o]l.), the colugo.
{Flying frog} (Zo["o]l.), an East Indian tree frog of the
   genus {Rhacophorus}, having very large and broadly webbed
   feet, which serve as parachutes, and enable it to make
   very long leaps.
{Flying gurnard} (Zo["o]l.), a species of gurnard of the
   genus {Cephalacanthus} or {Dactylopterus}, with very large
   pectoral fins, said to be able to fly like the flying
   fish, but not for so great a distance.
Note: Three species are known; that of the Atlantic is
      {Cephalacanthus volitans}.
{Flying jib} (Naut.), a sail extended outside of the standing
   jib, on the flying-jib boom.
{Flying-jib boom} (Naut.), an extension of the jib boom.
{Flying kites} (Naut.), light sails carried only in fine
   weather.
{Flying lemur}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Colugo}.
{Flying level} (Civil Engin.), a reconnoissance level over
   the course of a projected road, canal, etc.
{Flying lizard}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Dragon}, n. 6.
{Flying machine}, an apparatus for navigating the air; a form
   of balloon. -- {Flying mouse} (Zo["o]l.), the opossum
   mouse ({Acrobates pygm[ae]us}), of Australia.
Note: It has lateral folds of skin, like the flying
      squirrels. -- {Flying party} (Mil.), a body of soldiers
   detailed to hover about an enemy. -- {Flying phalanger}
   (Zo["o]l.), one of several species of small marsuupials of
   the genera {Petaurus} and {Belideus}, of Australia and New
   Guinea, having lateral folds like those of the flying
   squirrels. The sugar squirrel ({B. sciureus}), and the
   ariel ({B. ariel}), are the best known; -- called also
   {squirrel petaurus} and {flying squirrel}. See {Sugar
   squirrel}. -- {Flying pinion}, the fly of a clock. --
{Flying sap} (Mil.), the rapid construction of trenches (when
   the enemy's fire of case shot precludes the method of
   simple trenching), by means of gabions placed in
   juxtaposition and filled with earth. -- {Flying shot}, a
   shot fired at a moving object, as a bird on the wing. --
{Flying spider}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Ballooning spider}. --
{Flying squid} (Zo["o]l.), an oceanic squid ({Ommastrephes,
   or Sthenoteuthis, Bartramii}), abundant in the Gulf
   Stream, which is able to leap out of the water with such
   force that it often falls on the deck of a vessel. --
{Flying squirrel} (Zo["o]l.) See {Flying squirrel}, in the
   Vocabulary. -- {Flying start}, a start in a sailing race
   in which the signal is given while the vessels are under
   way. -- {Flying torch} (Mil.), a torch attached to a long
   staff and used for signaling at night.