fleet

¹

[ fleet ]

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.

fleet

²

[ fleet ]

adjective

, fleet·er, fleet·est.

1. swift; rapid:

   to be fleet of foot;

   a fleet horse.

verb (used without object)

1. to move swiftly; fly.
2. Nautical. to change position; shift.
3. Archaic.
   1. to glide along like a stream.
   2. to fade; vanish.
4. Obsolete. to float; drift; swim.

verb (used with object)

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

   Synonyms: beguile, hasten, speed

2. Nautical.
   1. to move or change the position of.
   2. to separate the blocks of (a tackle).
   3. to lay (a rope) along a deck.

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.

fleet

¹

/ fliːt /

adjective

1. rapid in movement; swift
2. poetic.
   fleeting; transient

verb

1. intr to move rapidly
2. archaic.
   intr to fade away smoothly; glide
3. tr nautical
   1. to change the position of (a hawser)
   2. to pass (a messenger or lead) to a hawser from a winch for hauling in
   3. to spread apart (the blocks of a tackle)
4. obsolete.
   intr to float or swim
5. obsolete.
   tr to cause (time) to pass rapidly

fleet

²

/ fliːt /

noun

1. a small coastal inlet; creek

Fleet

³

/ fliːt /

noun

1. a stream that formerly ran into the Thames between Ludgate Hill and Fleet Street and is now a covered sewer
2. Also calledFleet Prison (formerly) a London prison, esp used for holding debtors

fleet

⁴

/ fliːt /

noun

1. a number of warships organized as a tactical unit
2. all the warships of a nation
3. a number of aircraft, ships, buses, etc, operating together or under the same ownership

Derived Forms

• ˈfleetness, noun
• ˈfleetly, adverb

Other Words From

• fleetly adverb
• fleetness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of fleet¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English flete, fleot(e), Old English flēot “bay, estuary; boat,” derivative of flēotan float ( def ); fleet ²

Origin of fleet²

First recorded in 1520–30; probably from or akin to Old Norse fljótr “quick, speedy”

Origin of fleet³

First recorded before 900; Middle English flete, Old English flēot “flowing water”; cognate with German Fliess “brook”; fleet ³def 3 is so called after the Fleet a stream, later covered and used as a sewer, near which the prison was located; fleet ¹( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of fleet¹

probably Old English flēotan to float, glide rapidly; related to Old High German fliozzan to flow, Latin pluere to rain

Origin of fleet²

Old English flēot flowing water; see fleet ¹

Origin of fleet³

Old English flēot ship, flowing water, from flēotan to float

Example Sentences

At first, its strategy of selling carmakers the technology to build their own self-driving fleets looked promising.

From Ozy

American says that on all planes in its fleet, air is either replaced with outside air, or scrubbed using hospital-grade HEPA filtration, every two-to-four minutes.

From Fortune

American Airlines will swiftly begin electrostatically spraying the product across its fleet, including, eventually its regional aircraft, though it is limited to applying the disinfectant in the state of Texas under the current EPA authorization.

From Fortune

Instead, they taught a fleet of computers to do it for them.

From Quanta Magazine

By 3rd century BC, Ostia was transformed into a naval base, so much so that it became the seat of one of the officially appointed commanders of the Roman fleet, who was known as the quaestor Ostiensis.

From Realm of History

But it takes more than just pilots to operate the drone fleet.

From The Daily Beast

The player starts out with a fleet of three or four ships (depending on the machine), which he operates one at a time.

From The Daily Beast

The company also converts the gas into a liquid fuel that can run vehicles in its fleet.

From The Daily Beast

Waste Management, the large disposal company, has turned its landfills into a fleet of power producers.

From The Daily Beast

In 2015, Monster Jam will have a fleet of eight female drivers.

From The Daily Beast

The commander of this fleet was an Englishman, according to the agreement between them.

From Project Gutenberg

The Dutch fleet attacked Burnt island, in Scotland, but were repulsed.

From Project Gutenberg

The fleet of the enemy left the place where they last halted, and came in sight day before yesterday in the morning.

From Project Gutenberg

Don't you mind, Ike, it come the same day and on the wery same stage as the news of the sinkin' of the Spaynish fleet?

From Project Gutenberg

That argument was not the one of least weight in the council in determining that our fleet should not sail against the enemy.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• armada
• flotilla
• navy
• squadron