fleet

fleet¹

/fleet/, n.

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.

[bef. 1000; ME flete, OE fleot, deriv. of fleotan to float; see FLEET²]

fleet²

—fleetly, adv. —fleetness, n.

/fleet/, adj., fleeter, fleetest, v.

adj.

1. swift; rapid: to be fleet of foot; a fleet horse.

v.i.

2. to move swiftly; fly.

3. Naut. to change position; shift.

4. Archaic.

a. to glide along like a stream.

b. to fade; vanish.

5. Obs. to float; drift; swim.

v.t.

6. to cause (time) to pass lightly or swiftly.

7. Naut.

a. to move or change the position of.

b. to separate the blocks of (a tackle).

c. to lay (a rope) along a deck.

[bef. 900; ME fleten to be fleet, OE fleotan to float; see FLOAT]

Syn. 6. speed, hasten; beguile.

fleet³

/fleet/, n. Brit. Dial.

1. an arm of the sea; inlet.

2. a creek; stream; watercourse.

3. the Fleet, a former prison in London, long used for debtors.

[bef. 900; ME flete, OE fleot 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]

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