Definition of "flying"

flying¹

/ˈflaɪ.ɪŋ/

adjective
not comparable
1. That flies or can fly.
  Quotations
  Matthew (26—6 to 13), Mark (14—3 to 9), and Luke (7—37 and 38) also heard of, and related, the circumstance of Mary, whom John says (11 — 2) was the sister of Lazarus, anointing the head of Jesus with ointment, yet they neither of them utter a syllable about his raising her brother from the dead. It is difficult to account for this fact, unless we suppose that John was actually dishonest, or that he took up, believed and recorded a flying story, which an occurrence of some kind had given rise to, but which was without any foundation in truth.
  1836, Lysander Spooner, The Deist's Reply to the Alleged Supernatural Evidences of Christianity‎, Boston, page 34
2. Brief or hurried.
3. Capable of speed
4. (nautical, of a sail) Not secured by yards.
5. (nautical, of a vessel) Capable of foiling.
6. Designating a cattle brand consisting of a letter extended on both sides with tilde-like curved lines.
  Quotations
  He brands his cow W (flying W) or — (two-bar).
  1911, Boys' Life, volume 1, number 1, page 25
  […] some seventy-five cows belonging to William and Bernie with a Flying W […]
  1972, Willie Newbury Lewis, Tapadero: The Making of a Cowboy, page 154
  Wyles cut the fence, keeping the Flying D cowboys occupied rounding up their cattle.
  2013, Janette Kenny, One Real Cowboy
verb
1. present participle and gerund of fly

flying²

/ˈflaɪ.ɪŋ/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural flyings
1. (countable, aviation) An act of flight.
  Quotations
  "Flyings" could vary considerably in complexity and lavishness and could involve an actor or property being either lifted from the stage into the flies above or vice versa. As Colin Visser has observed, flyings and sinkings are both "associated with supernatural manifestations of various kinds" […]
  1993, John C. Greene, Gladys L. H. Clark, The Dublin Stage, 1720-1745, page 58
2. (uncountable, aerodynamics) The action or process of sustained motion through the air.
  Quotations
  His seconde hawke wexyd geryAnd was with flyenge wery.She had flowyn so oft,That on the rode loftShe perkyd her to rest.
  c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, page 63, lines 66–70
3. (uncountable, nautical) The action of sustained hydrodynamic lift on hydrofoils lifting the vessel hull lifted out of the water, for sustained motion across water.