overfly

verb

over·​fly ˌō-vər-ˈflī 

overflew ˌō-vər-ˈflü  ; overflown ˌō-vər-ˈflōn  ; overflying

transitive verb

: to fly over

especially : to pass over in an aircraft or spacecraft

Examples of overfly in a Sentence

The jets overflew the stadium.

Recent Examples on the Web

The first attempt ended in a go-around; the second resulted in the aircraft overflying the runway. — Francie Ebert, NBC news, 16 May 2026

Smoke rose from different parts of the city, which was being overflown by police helicopters, according to AFP journalists. — CBS News, 9 June 2026

Loeb, for instance, has launched the Galileo Project, a network of small telescopes and other instruments that could observe and study overflying UAPs. — Lee Billings, Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2026

Freed from all the entanglements that come with having to launch a ground invasion, air war can overfly not just morality and law but arguments, rationales, the calibration of risks to rewards and of suffering to satisfaction. — Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 9 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for overfly

• abscissae
• adonai
• alibi
• alkali
• alumni
• amoebae
• amplify
• annuli
• beautify
• brachii
• butterfly
• calculi

Kids Definition

overfly

verb

over·​fly ˌō-vər-ˈflī 

overflew -ˈflü  ; overflown -ˈflōn  ; overflying

: to fly over

especially : to pass over in an aircraft or spacecraft