Meaning & use
fly out
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Meanings
nouncountablesport
in baseball, a play in which a batter hits the ball high in the air and it is caught by a fielder, resulting in an out
Grammar: Countable: a fly out, two fly outs.
Patterns
- hit a fly out
- record a fly out
The batter hit a fly out to center field.
The pitcher got the third out on a fly out.
He has three fly outs this season.
verbintransitive
to leave a place by airplane
Grammar: No object; often followed by 'to' or 'from'.
Patterns
- fly out to a place
- fly out from a place
- fly out of a place
They will fly out to Paris tomorrow morning.
She flew out of London on the last flight.
We need to fly out from New York to attend the conference.
verbintransitivesport
in baseball, to be put out by hitting a ball that is caught by a fielder
Grammar: No object; often followed by 'to' and the fielder's position.
Patterns
- fly out to a position
- fly out for the last out
The batter flew out to left field to end the inning.
He flew out to the shortstop in the third inning.
She flew out twice in the game.
Word forms
| third person singular | flies out |
|---|---|
| past tense | flew out |
| past participle | flown out |
| -ing form | flying out |
| plural | fly outs |
Common combinations
- fly out to
- They will fly out to Tokyo next week.
- fly out from
- We are flying out from Chicago on Friday.
- fly out of
- He flew out of the country before the storm.
- hit a fly out
- The batter hit a fly out to right field.
- record a fly out
- The pitcher recorded a fly out for the second out.
Synonyms and how they differ
- depart
- A general word meaning to leave, especially for a journey; 'fly out' specifically means leaving by airplane.
- take off
- Used for an airplane leaving the ground; 'fly out' focuses on the person leaving a place by plane, not the plane's action.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: fly out or fly out?
fly out vs fly out
In baseball, 'fly out' is a noun and a verb; in travel, it is a verb. The context makes the meaning clear.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'fly out' to mean 'leave by airplane'?
Choose one answer.
Option B uses 'fly out' to mean leaving by airplane. Options A, C, and D all use 'fly out' in the baseball sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fly out”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.