Fly-by-night
[flahy-bahy-nahyt] /ˈflaɪ baɪˌnaɪt/
adjective
1.
not reliable or responsible, especially in business; untrustworthy:
a fly-by-night operation.
2.
not lasting; brief; impermanent; transitory:
a fly-by-night theater.
noun, Also, fly-by-nighter
3.
a person or thing that is unreliable, especially a debtor who evades or attempts to evade creditors.
4.
a person regarded as a poor credit risk.
adjective
1.
unreliable or untrustworthy, esp in finance
2.
brief; impermanent
noun
3.
an untrustworthy person, esp one who departs secretly or by night to avoid paying debts
4.
a person who goes out at night to places of entertainment
n.
1796, slang, said to be an old term of reproach to a woman signifying that she was a witch; extended 1823 to “anyone who departs hastily from a recent activity,” especially while owing money. The two senses involve the two verbs fly.
Shady or untrustworthy: “Before buying stock in a newly formed company, the prudent investor will check its owners’ credentials to make sure it’s not a fly-by-night operation.”
adjective
Undependable and dishonest: fly-bynight correspondence school
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- Fly-boy
[flahy-boi] /ˈflaɪˌbɔɪ/ noun 1. Printing. 1 (def 29b). 2. Slang. noun An aircraft pilot, esp an intrepid one in the US Air Force: The generals are no full-throttle ”fly-boys” (WWII armed forces)
- Fly-cast
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