Flying \Fly"ing\, a. [From Fly, v. i.]
Moving in the air with, or as with, wings; moving lightly or
rapidly; intended for rapid movement.
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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 (Zool.), a young female kangaroo.
Flying dragon.
(a) (Zool.) 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. (Zool.) See Flying fish, in the Vocabulary.
Flying fox (Zool.), see Flying fox in the vocabulary.
Flying frog (Zool.), either of two East Indian tree frogs
of the genus Rhacophorus (Rhacophorus nigrapalmatus
and Rhacophorus pardalis), having very large and broadly
webbed feet, which serve as parachutes, and enable it to
make very long leaps.
Flying gurnard (Zool.), 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. (Zool.) See Colugo.
Flying level (Civil Engin.), a reconnoissance level over
the course of a projected road, canal, etc.
Flying lizard. (Zool.) See Dragon, n. 6.
Flying machine, any apparatus for navigating through the
air, especially a heavier-than-air machine. -- Flying
mouse (Zool.), the opossum mouse (Acrobates pygm[ae]us), a
marsupial of Australia. Called also feathertail glider.
Note: It has lateral folds of skin, like the flying
squirrels, and a featherlike tail. -- Flying party
(Mil.), a body of soldiers detailed to hover about an
enemy. -- Flying phalanger (Zool.), 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 (Belideus sciureus), and the ariel (Belideus
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. (Zool.) See
Ballooning spider. -- Flying squid (Zool.), an oceanic
squid (Ommastrephes Bartramii syn. 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 (Zool.) 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.
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Bridge \Bridge\ (br[i^]j), n. [OE. brig, brigge, brug, brugge,
AS. brycg, bricg; akin to Fries. bregge, D. brug, OHG.
brucca, G. br["u]cke, Icel. bryggja pier, bridge, Sw. brygga,
Dan. brygge, and prob. Icel. br[=u] bridge, Sw. & Dan. bro
bridge, pavement, and possibly to E. brow.]
1. A structure, usually of wood, stone, brick, or iron,
erected over a river or other water course, or over a
chasm, railroad, etc., to make a passageway from one bank
to the other.
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2. Anything supported at the ends, which serves to keep some
other thing from resting upon the object spanned, as in
engraving, watchmaking, etc., or which forms a platform or
staging over which something passes or is conveyed.
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3. (Mus.) The small arch or bar at right angles to the
strings of a violin, guitar, etc., serving of raise them
and transmit their vibrations to the body of the
instrument.
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4. (Elec.) A device to measure the resistance of a wire or
other conductor forming part of an electric circuit.
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5. A low wall or vertical partition in the fire chamber of a
furnace, for deflecting flame, etc.; -- usually called a
bridge wall.
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Aqueduct bridge. See Aqueduct.
Asses' bridge, Bascule bridge, Bateau bridge. See under
Ass, Bascule, Bateau.
Bridge of a steamer (Naut.), a narrow platform across the
deck, above the rail, for the convenience of the officer
in charge of the ship; in paddlewheel vessels it connects
the paddle boxes.
Bridge of the nose, the upper, bony part of the nose.
Cantalever bridge. See under Cantalever.
Draw bridge. See Drawbridge.
Flying bridge, a temporary bridge suspended or floating, as
for the passage of armies; also, a floating structure
connected by a cable with an anchor or pier up stream, and
made to pass from bank to bank by the action of the
current or other means.
Girder bridge or Truss bridge, a bridge formed by
girders, or by trusses resting upon abutments or piers.
Lattice bridge, a bridge formed by lattice girders.
Pontoon bridge, Ponton bridge. See under Pontoon.
Skew bridge, a bridge built obliquely from bank to bank, as
sometimes required in railway engineering.
Suspension bridge. See under Suspension.
Trestle bridge, a bridge formed of a series of short,
simple girders resting on trestles.
Tubular bridge, a bridge in the form of a hollow trunk or
rectangular tube, with cellular walls made of iron plates
riveted together, as the Britannia bridge over the Menai
Strait, and the Victoria bridge at Montreal.
Wheatstone's bridge (Elec.), a device for the measurement
of resistances, so called because the balance between the
resistances to be measured is indicated by the absence of
a current in a certain wire forming a bridge or connection
between two points of the apparatus; -- invented by Sir
Charles Wheatstone.
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