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fleeting

 - 6 dictionary results

fleet⋅ing

  [flee-ting]
–adjective
passing swiftly; vanishing quickly; transient; transitory: fleeting beauty; a fleeting glance.
Use fleeting in a Sentence
Origin:
1325–75; ME; see fleet 2 , -ing 2

Related forms:
fleet⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
fleet⋅ing⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
passing, flitting, flying, brief, fugitive.

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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To fleeting
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.
fleet·ing   (flē'tĭng)   
adj.  Passing quickly; ephemeral: a fleeting glimpse; a fleeting interest in the campaign.
fleet'ing·ly adv.
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.

fleeting  (adj.)
c.1225, from O.E. fleotende "floating, drifting," later "flying, moving swiftly," from O.E. fleotan (see fleet (n.)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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