Definition of flight
plural flights
1 a
: an act or instance of passing through the air by the use of wings
- the flight of a bee
b
: the ability to fly
- flight is natural to birds
2 a
: a passing through the air or through space outside the earth's atmosphere
- flight of an arrow
- the flight of a rocket to the moon
b
: the distance covered in such a flight
c
: swift movement
3 a
: a trip made by or in an airplane or spacecraft
- a transatlantic flight
b (1)
: a scheduled airplane trip
- Our flight is at noon.
(2)
the airplane that is making a trip
- They boarded flight 109.
4 a
: a group of similar beings or objects flying through the air together
- a flight of geese
b
: a number of competitors (as in a sport) grouped together on the basis of demonstrated skill or ability or for purposes of elimination contests prior to a final test
- At a meet, shot putters and discus throwers are often separated into flights.
- —Kristin Wolden Nitz
c
: a selection of alcoholic drinks (such as wines, beers, or whiskeys) for tasting as a group
- Most of the 20 people attending the tasting were German wine collectors and they seemed almost always to prefer the most powerful wine in each flight.
- —James Suckling
- The tour meets in the White Labs tasting room, where you will have to ignore the siren call of the beer flights and follow your guide to the actual labs.
- —Karla Peterson
5
: a brilliant, imaginative, or unrestrained exercise or display
- a flight of fancy
6 a
: a continuous series of stairs from one landing or floor to another
- Her apartment is four flights up.
b
: a series (as of terraces or conveyors) resembling a flight of stairs
7
: a unit of the U.S. Air Force below a squadron
