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Let fly   /lɛt flaɪ/   Listen
verb
Let  v. t.  (past & past part. let, obs. letted; pres. part. letting)  
1.
To leave; to relinquish; to abandon. (Obs. or Archaic, except when followed by alone or be.) "He... prayed him his voyage for to let." "Yet neither spins nor cards, ne cares nor frets, But to her mother Nature all her care she lets." "Let me alone in choosing of my wife."
2.
To consider; to think; to esteem. (Obs.)
3.
To cause; to make; used with the infinitive in the active form but in the passive sense; as, let make, i. e., cause to be made; let bring, i. e., cause to be brought. (Obs.) "This irous, cursed wretch Let this knight's son anon before him fetch." "He... thus let do slay hem all three." "Anon he let two coffers make."
4.
To permit; to allow; to suffer; either affirmatively, by positive act, or negatively, by neglecting to restrain or prevent. Note: In this sense, when followed by an infinitive, the latter is commonly without the sign to; as to let us walk, i. e., to permit or suffer us to walk. Sometimes there is entire omission of the verb; as, to let (to be or to go) loose. "Pharaoh said, I will let you go." "If your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is."
5.
To allow to be used or occupied for a compensation; to lease; to rent; to hire out; often with out; as, to let a farm; to let a house; to let out horses.
6.
To give, grant, or assign, as a work, privilege, or contract; often with out; as, to let the building of a bridge; to let out the lathing and the plastering. Note: The active form of the infinitive of let, as of many other English verbs, is often used in a passive sense; as, a house to let (i. e., for letting, or to be let). This form of expression conforms to the use of the Anglo-Saxon gerund with to (dative infinitive) which was commonly so employed. See Gerund, 2. " Your elegant house in Harley Street is to let." In the imperative mood, before the first person plural, let has a hortative force. " Rise up, let us go." " Let us seek out some desolate shade."
To let alone, to leave; to withdraw from; to refrain from interfering with.
To let blood, to cause blood to flow; to bleed.
To let down.
(a)
To lower.
(b)
To soften in tempering; as, to let down tools, cutlery, and the like.
To let fly or To let drive, to discharge with violence, as a blow, an arrow, or stone. See under Drive, and Fly.
To let in or To let into.
(a)
To permit or suffer to enter; to admit.
(b)
To insert, or imbed, as a piece of wood, in a recess formed in a surface for the purpose.
To let loose, to remove restraint from; to permit to wander at large.
To let off.
(a)
To discharge; to let fly, as an arrow; to fire the charge of, as a gun.
(b)
To release, as from an engagement or obligation. (Colloq.)
To let out.
(a)
To allow to go forth; as, to let out a prisoner.
(b)
To extend or loosen, as the folds of a garment; to enlarge; to suffer to run out, as a cord.
(c)
To lease; to give out for performance by contract, as a job.
(d)
To divulge.
To let slide, to let go; to cease to care for. (Colloq.) " Let the world slide."


Fly  v. i.  (past flew; past part. flown; pres. part. flying)  
1.
To move in or pass through the air with wings, as a bird.
2.
To move through the air or before the wind; esp., to pass or be driven rapidly through the air by any impulse.
3.
To float, wave, or rise in the air, as sparks or a flag. " Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward."
4.
To move or pass swiftly; to hasten away; to circulate rapidly; as, a ship flies on the deep; a top flies around; rumor flies. "Fly, envious Time, till thou run out thy race." "The dark waves murmured as the ships flew on."
5.
To run from danger; to attempt to escape; to flee; as, an enemy or a coward flies. See Note under Flee. "Fly, ere evil intercept thy flight." "Whither shall I fly to escape their hands?"
6.
To move suddenly, or with violence; to do an act suddenly or swiftly; usually with a qualifying word; as, a door flies open; a bomb flies apart.
To fly about (Naut.), to change frequently in a short time; said of the wind.
To fly around, to move about in haste. (Colloq.)
To fly at, to spring toward; to rush on; to attack suddenly.
To fly in the face of, to insult; to assail; to set at defiance; to oppose with violence; to act in direct opposition to; to resist.
To fly off, to separate, or become detached suddenly; to revolt.
To fly on, to attack.
To fly open, to open suddenly, or with violence.
To fly out.
(a)
To rush out.
(b)
To burst into a passion; to break out into license.
To let fly.
(a)
To throw or drive with violence; to discharge. "A man lets fly his arrow without taking any aim."
(b)
(Naut.) To let go suddenly and entirely; as, to let fly the sheets.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Let fly" Quotes from Famous Books



... pointed out, but scarcely had they landed when they were treacherously set upon and killed. Shortly afterwards, five hundred savages, armed with bows and darts, springing up from behind the rocks where they had been concealed, let fly a shower of arrows. The boat being driven in by the force of the sea towards the beach, the crew had great difficulty in pulling off. The Admiral received two wounds, one under his right eye, and one on his head, nearly penetrating to the bone; the rest of the party being also severely ...
— Notable Voyagers - From Columbus to Nordenskiold • W.H.G. Kingston and Henry Frith
... their faces and, nodding violently, tried to smile ingratiatingly. Some one let fly a snowball, and in a moment the mob of boys, shouting and laughing noisily, chased after them. No harm was intended; it was merely excess of spirits at getting out from school. But the result was disastrous. The little fellows faced round in alarm, cried out wildly in an unknown ...
— A Busy Year at the Old Squire's • Charles Asbury Stephens
... began a scattering fire, which was returned by Sherman's pickets, which were still in line a few rods in front of the regiments. There was an open space between the Fifty-seventh and Fifty-third regiments of Hildebrand's brigade, and Waterhouse, under Sherman's direction, let fly his shells through the gap into the bushes. Taylor wheeled his guns into position on both sides ...
— My Days and Nights on the Battle-Field • Charles Carleton Coffin
... Broadfoot met them, blunderbuss in hand. Being there to guard the ship, he bade them begone, and upon their disregarding the order, and closing in upon him with evident intent to take him, he clapped the blunderbuss, which was heavily charged with swanshot, to his shoulder and let fly into the midst of them. One of their number, Calahan by name, fell mortally wounded, and Broadfoot was in due course indicted for wilful murder. [Footnote: Westminster Journal, 30 April 1743.] How he was found not guilty on ...
— The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore • John R. Hutchinson
... as they confessed to me, were grieved to be obliged to kill so many poor creatures, who had no notion of their danger; yet, having them all thus in their power, and the first having loaded his piece again, resolved to let fly both together among them; and singling out, by agreement, which to aim at, they shot together, and killed, or very much wounded, four of them; the fifth, frightened even to death, though not hurt, fell with the rest; so that our men, seeing them all fall together, ...
— The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe • Daniel Defoe


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