Meanings
- While flying.
By surviving the rigors of a life on the wing, birds earn another chance to pass on their genes.
1999, Scott Weidensaul, Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds, North Point Press, published 2000, →ISBN, page 3461 more example
Next comes a supposition, that the bird sleeps on the wing, and that the great distance from land at which it is seen at close of day is thought to favour the supposition[…].
1835 February, Thomas Hutton, “Observations on an Article in Loudon's Magazine of Natural History, on the subject of the Albatross”, in Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, volume 4, number 38, page 108Synonyms: in flight
- figurativelyDeparting.
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phraseWhile flying.
prepositional phraseDuring operation.
prepositional phraseIn motion.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbflying through the air
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Cite this entry
on the wing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20wing
“on the wing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20wing. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “on the wing,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20wing.
Source: on the wing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.