let fly

present singular third person lets fly · participle present letting fly

1. idiomaticintransitiveTo strike or release a projectile with great force.

   This time there was an English element as Ainsley Maitland-Niles let fly with cross-shot that fizzed to Nicolas Tagliafico at the far post.

   2025 April 17, Simon Stone, “Manchester United 5-4 Olympique Lyonnais”, in BBC Sport

   2 more examples

   One evening when it was barely even dusk a sentry let fly at me from a distance of twenty yards; but he missed me by a yard—goodness knows how many times the Spanish standard of marksmanship has saved my life.

   1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter III, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC

   Norwich were back on level terms through an equally stunning finish by Morison in the 53rd minute, the former Millwall player letting fly from the edge of the area after being teed-up by Leon Barnett.

   2011 October 29, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport

2. figurativelyTo unleash an angry outburst.

   She was furious and let fly at him with a string of obscenities.

   2 more examples

   Rosemary peeled off Sloane Square, Hartnell, decorations-will-be-worn, fog primroses, crumpets by the fire, and let fly vulgarly at Vythilingam.

   1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 498

   Jammed onto a narrow, steep sidewalk, police barricades all around, we march with placards, drums, and angry spirit: "The Moral Majority, cops and Klan. Work together hand in hand." — helmeted tac squad on horses, Hondas, facing us on Powell Street, itching to wield their billy clubs, waiting for any excuse to let fly.

   1984 August 11, Merle Woo, “Revolutionary Optimism—The Order of the Day”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 5, page 5