'Fleet' definitions:

Definition of 'fleet'

(from WordNet)
adjective
Moving very fast; "fleet of foot"; "the fleet scurrying of squirrels"; "a swift current"; "swift flight of an arrow"; "a swift runner" [syn: fleet, swift]
noun
Group of aircraft operating together under the same ownership
noun
Group of motor vehicles operating together under the same ownership
noun
A group of steamships operating together under the same ownership
noun
A group of warships organized as a tactical unit
verb
Move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart; "The hummingbird flitted among the branches" [syn: flit, flutter, fleet, dart]
verb
Disappear gradually; "The pain eventually passed off" [syn: evanesce, fade, blow over, pass off, fleet, pass]

Definition of 'Fleet'

From: GCIDE
  • Fleet \Fleet\, a. [Compar. Fleeter; superl. Fleetest.] [Cf. Icel. flj[=o]tr quick. See Fleet, v. i.]
  • 1. Swift in motion; moving with velocity; light and quick in going from place to place; nimble. [1913 Webster]
  • In mail their horses clad, yet fleet and strong. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Light; superficially thin; not penetrating deep, as soil. [Prov. Eng.] --Mortimer. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Fleet'

From: GCIDE
  • Fleet \Fleet\, n. [OE. flete, fleote, AS. fle['o]t ship, fr. fle['o]tan to float, swim. See Fleet, v. i. and cf. Float.] A number of vessels in company, especially war vessels; also, the collective naval force of a country, etc. [1913 Webster]
  • Fleet captain, the senior aid of the admiral of a fleet, when a captain. --Ham. Nav. Encyc. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Fleet'

From: GCIDE
  • Fleet \Fleet\, v. t.
  • 1. To pass over rapidly; to skin the surface of; as, a ship that fleets the gulf. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To hasten over; to cause to pass away lighty, or in mirth and joy. [1913 Webster]
  • Many young gentlemen flock to him, and fleet the time carelessly. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. (Naut.) (a) To draw apart the blocks of; -- said of a tackle. --Totten. (b) To cause to slip down the barrel of a capstan or windlass, as a rope or chain. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. (Naut.) To move or change in position; used only in special phrases; as, of fleet aft the crew.
  • We got the long "stick" . . . down and "fleeted" aft, where it was secured. --F. T. Bullen. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Definition of 'Fleet'

From: GCIDE
  • Fleet \Fleet\, n. [AS. fle['o]t a place where vessels float, bay, river; akin to D. vliet rill, brook, G. fliess. See Fleet, v. i.]
  • 1. A flood; a creek or inlet; a bay or estuary; a river; -- obsolete, except as a place name, -- as Fleet Street in London. [1913 Webster]
  • Together wove we nets to entrap the fish In floods and sedgy fleets. --Matthewes. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. A former prison in London, which originally stood near a stream, the Fleet (now filled up). [1913 Webster]
  • Fleet parson, a clergyman of low character, in, or in the vicinity of, the Fleet prison, who was ready to unite persons in marriage (called Fleet marriage) at any hour, without public notice, witnesses, or consent of parents. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Fleet'

From: GCIDE
  • Fleet \Fleet\, v. t. [AS. fl[=e]t cream, fr. fle['o]tan to float. See Fleet, v. i.] To take the cream from; to skim. [Prov. Eng.] --Johnson. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'fleet'

From: GCIDE
  • fleet \fleet\ (fl[=e]t), v. i. [imp. & p. p. fleeted; p. pr. & vb. n. fleeting.] [OE. fleten, fleoten, to swim, AS. fle['o]tan to swim, float; akin to D. vlieten to flow, OS. fliotan, OHG. fliozzan, G. fliessen, Icel. flj[=o]ta to float, flow, Sw. flyta, D. flyde, L. pluere to rain, Gr. plei^n to sail, swim, float, Skr. plu to swim, sail. [root]84. Cf. Fleet, n. & a., Float, Pluvial, Flow.]
  • 1. To sail; to float. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • And in frail wood on Adrian Gulf doth fleet. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To fly swiftly; to pass over quickly; to hasten; to flit as a light substance. [1913 Webster]
  • All the unaccomplished works of Nature's hand, . . . Dissolved on earth, fleet hither. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. (Naut.) To slip on the whelps or the barrel of a capstan or windlass; -- said of a cable or hawser. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. (Naut.) To move or change in position; -- said of persons; as, the crew fleeted aft. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Synonyms of 'fleet'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Fleet'