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fleet

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fleet

1  [fleet]
Use fleet in a Sentence
–noun
1. the largest organized unit of naval ships grouped for tactical or other purposes.
2. the largest organization of warships under the command of a single officer.
3. a number of naval vessels or vessels carrying armed crew members.
4. a large group of ships, airplanes, trucks, etc., operated by a single company or under the same ownership: He owns a fleet of cabs.
5. a large group of airplanes, automobiles, etc., moving or operating together.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME flete, OE flēot, deriv. of flēotan to float; see fleet 2
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fleet

2  [fleet] adjective, -er, est, verb
–adjective
1. swift; rapid: to be fleet of foot; a fleet horse.
–verb (used without object)
2. to move swiftly; fly.
3. Nautical. to change position; shift.
4. Archaic.
a. to glide along like a stream.
b. to fade; vanish.
5. Obsolete. to float; drift; swim.
–verb (used with object)
6. to cause (time) to pass lightly or swiftly.
7. Nautical.
a. to move or change the position of.
b. to separate the blocks of (a tackle).
c. to lay (a rope) along a deck.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME fleten to be fleet, OE flēotan to float; see float

Related forms:
fleetly, adverb
fleetness, noun

Synonyms:
6. speed, hasten; beguile.

fleet

3  [fleet]
–noun British Dialect.
1. an arm of the sea; inlet.
2. a creek; stream; watercourse.
3. the Fleet, a former prison in London, long used for debtors.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME flete, OE flēot flowing water; c. G Fliess brook; (def. 3) after the Fleet a stream, later covered and used as a sewer, near which the prison was located
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To fleet
fleet 1   (flēt)   
n.  

  1. A number of warships operating together under one command.

  2. A group of vessels or vehicles, such as taxicabs or fishing boats, owned or operated as a unit.


[Middle English flete, from Old English flēot, from flēotan, to float; see pleu- in Indo-European roots.]
fleet 2   (flēt)   
adj.   fleet·er, fleet·est

  1. Moving swiftly; rapid or nimble. See Synonyms at fast1.

  2. Fleeting; evanescent.

v.   fleet·ed, fleet·ing, fleets

v.   intr.

  1. To move or pass swiftly.

  2. To fade out; vanish.

  3. Archaic To flow.

  4. Obsolete To drift.

v.   tr.

  1. To cause (time) to pass quickly.

  2. Nautical To alter the position of (tackle or rope, for example).


[Probably from Old Norse fljōtr. V., from Middle English fleten, to drift, float, from Old English flēotan; see pleu- in Indo-European roots.]
fleet'ly adv., fleet'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

fleet  (n.)
O.E. fleot "ship, floating vessel," from fleotan "to float," from P.Gmc. *fleut-, from PIE base *pleu- "to flow, run, swim." Sense of "naval force" is pre-1200. The O.E. word also meant "creek, inlet, flow of water," especially one into the Thames near Ludgate Hill, which lent its name to Fleet Street (home of newspaper and magazine houses, standing for "the English press" since 1882), Fleet prison, etc.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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