Definitions for fleet
flitfleet

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. fleetnoun

   group of aircraft operating together under the same ownership

2. fleetnoun

   group of motor vehicles operating together under the same ownership

3. fleetnoun

   a group of steamships operating together under the same ownership

4. fleetadjective

   a group of warships organized as a tactical unit

5. fleet, swiftverb

   moving very fast

   "fleet of foot"; "the fleet scurrying of squirrels"; "a swift current"; "swift flight of an arrow"; "a swift runner"

6. flit, flutter, fleet, dartverb

   move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart

   "The hummingbird flitted among the branches"

7. evanesce, fade, blow over, pass off, fleet, passverb

   disappear gradually

   "The pain eventually passed off"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Fleetnoun

   The stream that ran where Fleet Street now runs.

2. Fleetnoun

   A former prison in London, which originally stood near the stream.

3. Etymology: From fleten, from fleotan

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Fleet, Fleot, Flot

   Etymology: Are all derived from the Saxon fleot , which signifies a bay or gulph. Edmund Gibson Camden.

2. Fleetadjective

   Swift of pace; quick; nimble; active.

   Etymology: fliotur, Islandick.

   Upon that shore he spied Atin stand;
   There by his master left, when late he far’d
   In Phædria’s fleet bark. Fairy Queen.

   I take him for the better dog:
   ———— Thou art a fool: if Echo were as fleet,
   I would esteem him worth a dozen such. William Shakespeare.

   He had in his stables one of the fleetest horses in England. Clar.

   His fear was greater than his haste; For fear, though fleeter than the wind,
   Believes ’tis always left behind. Hudibras, p. iii. cant. 3.

   So fierce they drove, their coursers were so fleet,
   That the turf trembled underneath their feet. Dryden.

   He told us, that the welkin would be clear
   When swallows fleet soar high and sport in air. John Gay.

   Ten thousand thousand fleet ideas
   Croud fast into the mind. James Thomson, Autumn.

   2. [In the husbandry of some provinces.] Light; superficially fruitful.

   Marl cope-ground is a cold, stiff, wet clay, unless where it is very fleet for pasture. John Mortimer.

   3. Skimming the surface.

   Those lands must be plowed fleet. John Mortimer, Husbandry.

3. Fleetnoun

   A company of ships; a navy.

   Etymology: flota, Saxon.

   Our pray’rs are heard; our master’s fleet shall go
   As far as winds can bear, or waters flow. Matthew Prior.

4. Fleetnoun

   A creek; an inlet of water. A provincial word, from which the Fleet-prison and Fleet-street are named.

   Etymology: flota, Saxon.

   They have a very good way in Essex of draining of lands that have land-floods or fleets running through them, which make a kind of a small creek. John Mortimer, Husbandry.

5. To Fleetverb

   1. To skim the water.

   Who swelling sails in Caspian sea doth cross,
   And in frail wood an Adrian gulph doth fleet,
   Doth not, I ween, so many evils meet. Fairy Queen, b. ii.

   2. To live merrily, or pass time away lightly.

   Many young gentlemen flock to him every day, and fleet the time carelesly as they did in the golden age. William Shakespeare.

   3. [In the country.] To skim milk; to take off the cream: whence the word fleeting dish.

6. To Fleetverb

   Etymology: flotan, Saxon.

   1. To fly swiftly; to vanish.

   How all the other passions fleet to air,
   As doubtful thoughts, and rash embrac’d despair! William Shakespeare.

   A wolf, who, hang’d for human slaughter,
   Ev’n from the gallows did his fell soul fleet. William Shakespeare.

   2. To be in a transient state; the same with flit.

   Our understanding, to make a complete notion, must add something else to this fleeting and unremarkable superficies, that may bring it to our acquaintance. Kenelm Digby, on Bodies.

   O fleeting joys
   Of Paradise, dear-bought with lasting woes! John Milton, P. Lost.

   While I listen to thy voice,
   Chloris! I feel my life decay:
   That powerful noise
   Calls my fleeting soul away. Edmund Waller.

   As empty clouds by rising winds are tost,
   Their fleeting forms scarce sooner found than lost. Matthew Prior.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Fleet

   to sail; to float

2. Fleet

   to fly swiftly; to pass over quickly; to hasten; to flit as a light substance

3. Fleet

   to slip on the whelps or the barrel of a capstan or windlass; -- said of a cable or hawser

4. Fleetverb

   to pass over rapidly; to skin the surface of; as, a ship that fleets the gulf

5. Fleetverb

   to hasten over; to cause to pass away lighty, or in mirth and joy

6. Fleetverb

   to draw apart the blocks of; -- said of a tackle

7. Fleetverb

   to cause to slip down the barrel of a capstan or windlass, as a rope or chain

8. Fleetverb

   swift in motion; moving with velocity; light and quick in going from place to place; nimble

9. Fleetverb

   light; superficially thin; not penetrating deep, as soil

10. Fleetverb

    a number of vessels in company, especially war vessels; also, the collective naval force of a country, etc

11. Fleetverb

    a flood; a creek or inlet; a bay or estuary; a river; -- obsolete, except as a place name, -- as Fleet Street in London

12. Fleetverb

    a former prison in London, which originally stood near a stream, the Fleet (now filled up)

13. Fleetverb

    to take the cream from; to skim

14. Etymology: [OE. fleten, fleoten, to swim, AS. fletan to swim, float; akin to D. vlieten to flow, OS. fliotan, OHG. fliozzan, G. fliessen, Icel. fljta to float, flow, Sw. flyta, D. flyde, L. pluere to rain, Gr. plei^n to sail, swim, float, Skr. plu to swim, sail. 84. Cf. Fleet, n. & a., Float, Pluvial, Flow.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Fleet

   Fleet is a town and civil parish in the Hart district of Hampshire, England, located 37 miles south west of London. It is part of and is the major town ofHart District. The 2007 population forecast for Fleet was 31,687. Fleet contains the areas of Church Crookham and Elvetham Heath. In 2011, and again in 2012, Hart district, of which Fleet is the main town, was voted the best place to live in the UK by the Halifax Quality of Life study, above areas such as Elmbridge in Surrey and Wokingham in Berkshire.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Fleet

   flēt, n. a number of ships in company, esp. ships of war: a division of the navy, commanded by an admiral. [A.S. fléot, a ship—fléotan, to float; conn. with Dut. vloot, Ger. flotte.]

2. Fleet

   flēt, adj. swift: nimble: transient: (prov.) shallow.—adjs. Fleet′-foot (Shak.), fleet or swift of foot; Fleet′ing, passing quickly: temporary.—advs. Fleet′ingly; Fleet′ly.—n. Fleet′ness. [Prob. Ice. fliótr, swift; but ult. cog. with succeeding word.]

3. Fleet

   flēt, v.i. to flit, pass swiftly.—v.t. (Shak.) to make to pass quickly:—pr.p. fleet′ing; pa.p. fleet′ed. [A.S. fléotan, to float.]

4. Fleet

   flēt, n. a shallow creek or bay, as in Northfleet, Fleet-ditch, &c.—The Fleet, or Fleet Prison, a London gaol down to 1842, long a place of confinement for debtors—clandestine marriages were solemnised here down to 1754 by broken-down clergymen confined for debt. [A.S. fléot, an inlet.]

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. fleet

   An organization of ships, aircraft, Marine forces, and shore-based fleet activities all under the command of a commander or commander in chief who may exercise operational as well as administrative control. See also major fleet; numbered fleet.

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. fleet

   See FLEETING.

2. fleet

   A general name given to the royal navy. Also, any number of ships, whether designed for war or commerce, keeping in company. A fleet of ships of war is usually divided into three squadrons, and these, if numerous, are again separated into subdivisions. The admiral commands the centre, the second in command superintends the vanguard, and the third directs the rear. The term in the navy was any number exceeding a squadron, or rear-admiral's command, composed of five sail-of-the-line, with any amount of smaller vessels.

3. fleet

   [Teut. flieffen]. The old word for float: as "we fleeted down the river with our boats;" and Shakspeare makes Antony say, "Our sever'd navy too Have knit again, and fleet, threat'ning most sea-like." Fleet is also an old term for an arm of the sea, or running water subject to the tide. Also, a bay where vessels can remain afloat. (See float.) A salt-water tide-creek.

Matched Categories

1. • Collection
   • Disappear
   • Steamship Company
   • Travel Rapidly

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'fleet' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4625

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'fleet' in Nouns Frequency: #1768

How to pronounce fleet?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say fleet in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of fleet in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of fleet in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of fleet in a Sentence

1. Paolo Moretti:

   We had to do a class agreement with one of the two national class societies to have the possibility to start classing their fleet.

2. Itay Glick:

   I don’t believe in coincidence, both USS The USS John S. McCain and USS Fitzgerald were part of the 7th Fleet, there is a relationship between these two events and there may be a connection.

3. Svein Moxnes Harfjeld:

   One would need a contango in the oil market to justify floating storage. Given the current developments in the oil market this cannot be ruled out, continued oil demand and longer transportation distances combined with no fleet growth should support our expectations for 2015 on average to be better than 2014.

4. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott:

   The fundamental thing that we have done today is ensure that we don't just have a ship build in Australia, we have a fleet build in Australia.

5. Randee Day:

   Private equity is forcing and supporting mergers and acquisition deals to do (fleet) roll-ups or listing as a way to exit their positions.

Popularity rank by frequency of use