flyby

noun

fly·​by ˈflī-ˌbī 

plural flybys

1

: a prearranged usually low-altitude flight by one or more airplanes over a public gathering (such as an air show)

2

a

: a flight of a spacecraft past a celestial body (such as Mars) close enough to obtain scientific data

b

: a spacecraft that makes a flyby

Examples of flyby in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The September flyby was designed to use Earth's gravity to boost OSIRIS-APEX's speed and redirect it toward Apophis, which will swing past Earth on April 13, 2029. —Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 28 Nov. 2025

The aircraft returned after the military flyby and continued feeding live video to the broadcast team. —Brian Maass, CBS News, 26 Nov. 2025

In flybys, the spacecraft extensively photographed Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980. —George Petras, USA Today, 25 Nov. 2025

Voyager 1 performed a flyby of Jupiter and Saturn before heading out to interstellar space. —Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 24 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1953, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for flyby

• apply
• awry
• belie
• bely
• bigeye
• bonsai
• buckeye
• comply
• coxae
• decry
• defy
• deny

Kids Definition

flyby

noun

fly·​by -ˌbī 

plural flybys

1

: a usually low-altitude flight past a chosen place by one or more aircraft

2

a

: a flight of a spacecraft past a heavenly body (as Mars) close enough to obtain scientific information

b

: a spacecraft that makes a flyby