Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Fleet"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Fleet \Fleet\, v. i. (Naut.)
To move or change in position; -- said of persons; as, the
crew fleeted aft.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Fleet \Fleet"\, v. t. (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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Fleet \Fleet\, a. [Compar. {Fleeter}; superl. {Fleetest}.] [Cf.
Icel. flj?tr quick. See {Fleet}, v. i.]
1. Swift in motion; moving with velocity; light and quick in
going from place to place; nimble.
In mail their horses clad, yet fleet and strong.
--Milton.
2. Light; superficially thin; not penetrating deep, as soil.
[Prov. Eng.] --Mortimer.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
{Fleet captain}, the senior aid of the admiral of a fleet,
when a captain. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Fleet \Fleet\, 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. ? to sail, swim,
float, Skr. plu to swim, sail. [root]84. Cf. {Fleet}, n. &
a., {Float}, {Pluvial}, {Flow}.]
1. To sail; to float. [Obs.]
And in frail wood on Adrian Gulf doth fleet.
--Spenser.
2. To fly swiftly; to pass over quickly; to hasten; to flit
as a light substance.
All the unaccomplished works of Nature's hand, . . .
Dissolved on earth, fleet hither. --Milton.
3. (Naut.) To slip on the whelps or the barrel of a capstan
or windlass; -- said of a cable or hawser.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Fleet \Fleet\, v. t.
1. To pass over rapidly; to skin the surface of; as, a ship
that fleets the gulf. --Spenser.
2. To hasten over; to cause to pass away lighty, or in mirth
and joy.
Many young gentlemen flock to him, and fleet the
time carelessly. --Shak.
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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
Together wove we nets to entrap the fish In floods
and sedgy fleets. --Matthewes.
2. A former prison in London, which originally stood near a
stream, the Fleet (now filled up).
{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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
fleet
adj : moving very fast; "fleet of foot"; "the fleet scurrying of
squirrels"; "a swift current"; "swift flight of an
arrow"; "a swift runner" [syn: {swift}]
n 1: group of aircraft operating together under the same
ownership
2: group of motor vehicles operating together under the same
ownership
3: a group of steamships operating together under the same
ownership
4: a group of warships organized as a tactical unit
v 1: move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart [syn: {flit}, {flutter},
{dart}]
2: disappear gradually; as of emotions, for example; "The pain
eventually passed off" [syn: {evanesce}, {fade}, {blow
over}, {pass off}, {pass}]
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