winged

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wing it

To do or attempt something with little preparation in advance; to improvise. Oh man, I totally forgot that I'm supposed to do this presentation today—I'll just have to wing it.

See also: wing

wing (one's)/its way

1. To fly along some course or toward some destination, especially very quickly. If it's dark enough, you can see satellites winging their way around the planet. It is the only aircraft to wing its way across the Atlantic in less than three hours.

2. To approach or travel to someone, something, or some place. I can't believe we'll be winging our way to Las Vegas in just under a month! The band plans to tour all across the United States, then wing its way to Europe in the summer.

winged words

Very eloquent, meaningful, and impactful speech. In his address before congress, the president spoke with winged words about the need for the country to unite in its fight against tyranny and evil.

wing it

to improvise; to do something extemporaneously. I lost my lecture notes, so I had to wing it. Don't worry. Just go out there and wing it.

See also: wing

wing it

Improvise, as in The interviewer had not read the author's book; he was just winging it. This expression comes from the theater, where it alludes to an actor studying his part in the wings (the areas to either side of the stage) because he has been suddenly called on to replace another. First recorded in 1885, it eventually was extended to other kinds of improvisation based on unpreparedness.

See also: wing

winged words

highly significant or apposite words. literary

The image, taken from Homer 's Iliad, is of the words travelling as directly as arrows to their intended target.

ˈwing it

(informal) do something without planning or preparing it first; improvise: I didn’t know I’d have to make a speech — I just had to wing it.

See also: wing

wing it

tv. to improvise; to do something extemporaneously. Don’t worry. Just go out there and wing it.

See also: wing

wing it

Informal

To improvise: I hadn't prepared for the interview, so I had to wing it.

See also: wing

References in periodicals archive ?

"We found that the simple up and down wavelike stroke of wings at the resonance frequency is easier to implement and generates lift comparable to winged insects that employ a significantly more complex stroke," said Alexander Alexeev.

Winged insects to inspire nextgen tiny air vehicles

A former hay ranch, the preserve plants cover crops as a food source for its birds and as a sanctuary from four-legged and winged predators.

Pursuing age-old passion, CEOs thrill to the hunt: as public land diminishes, private lodges and preserves cater to an upscale hunting crowd

The Adams is probably the best-known example, but a wide variety of patterns can be winged in this style, and many tiers now substitute feather tips on flies that traditionally called for the more fragile quill wings.

Mayfly Wings

The project involved an injection molded PVC winged inserter used in a new catheter product.

Flow analysis finds counter-intuitive solutions

More than 99.9 percent of the 900,000 species of insects on Earth are classified as Pterygota, or winged insects.

How Insects Fly

New analyses of a fossil ignored for decades in a British museum suggest that winged insects may have emerged as early as 400 million years ago, tens of millions of years before scientists expected.