on the wing
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
About to leave. Young (Night Thoughts, yii) speaks of "restless Hope, for ever on the wing.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “on the wing” mean?
About to leave. Young (Night Thoughts, yii) speaks of "restless Hope, for ever on the wing.
Is “on the wing” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.