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fleece

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fleece

   [flees] noun, verb, fleeced, fleec·ing.
noun
1.
the coat of wool that covers a sheep or a similar animal.
2.
the wool shorn from a sheep at one shearing.
3.
something resembling a fleece: a fleece of clouds in a blue sky.
4.
a fabric with a soft, silky pile, used for warmth, as for lining garments.
5.
the soft nap or pile of such a fabric.
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verb (used with object)
6.
to deprive of money or belongings by fraud, hoax, or the like; swindle: He fleeced the stranger of several dollars.
7.
to remove the fleece of (a sheep).
8.
to overspread, as with a fleece; fleck with fleecelike masses: a host of clouds fleecing the summer sky.

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Fleece is one of our favorite verbs.
So is skedaddle. Does it mean:
to run away hurriedly; flee.
to spend time idly; loaf.
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Origin:
before 1000; Middle English flees, Old English flēos, flȳs; cognate with Middle Dutch vlies, Middle High German vlius, German Vlies

Related forms
fleece·a·ble, adjective
fleece·less, adjective
fleece·like, adjective
fleec·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To fleece
Example Sentences
  • Consumers sometimes see planned obsolescence as a sinister plot by manufacturers to fleece them.
  • Gift shop stocked with woolens from alpaca and vicuña fleece.
  • Houdini could have made more money had he wished to fleece the credulous in this way.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
fleece (fliːs)
 
—n
1.  the coat of wool that covers the body of a sheep or similar animal and consists of a mass of crinkly hairs
2.  the wool removed from a single sheep
3.  something resembling a fleece in texture or warmth
4.  sheepskin or a fabric with soft pile, used as a lining for coats, etc
5.  a warm polyester fabric with a brushed nap, used for outdoor garments
6.  a jacket or top made from such a fabric
 
—vb
7.  to defraud or charge exorbitantly; swindle
8.  another term for shear
 
[Old English flēos; related to Middle High German vlius, Dutch vlies fleece, Latin plūma feather, down]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

fleece
O.E. fleos, from W.Gmc. *flusaz (cf. M.Du. vluus, M.H.G. vlius, Ger. Vlies), probably from PIE *plus- (cf. L. pluma "feather, down," Lith. plunksna "feather"). The verb is 1530s in the literal sense of "to strip a sheep of fleece" and 1570s in the figurative meaning "to cheat, swindle." Related: Fleeced;
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fleecing.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

fleece definition


  1. tv.
    to cheat someone; to steal everything from someone. (Underworld.) : Sam fleeced the kids for a lot of money.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Easton
Bible Dictionary

Fleece definition


the wool of a sheep, whether shorn off or still attached to the skin (Deut. 18:4; Job 31:20). The miracle of Gideon's fleece (Judg. 6:37-40) consisted in the dew having fallen at one time on the fleece without any on the floor, and at another time in the fleece remaining dry while the ground was wet with dew.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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