Fleet
[fliːt] or [flit]
Definition
(noun.) a group of warships organized as a tactical unit.
(noun.) a group of steamships operating together under the same ownership.
(noun.) group of motor vehicles operating together under the same ownership.
(noun.) group of aircraft operating together under the same ownership.
(adj.) moving very fast; 'fleet of foot'; 'the fleet scurrying of squirrels'; 'a swift current'; 'swift flight of an arrow'; 'a swift runner' .
Editor: Manuel--From WordNet
Definition
(n. & a.) To sail; to float.
(n. & a.) To fly swiftly; to pass over quickly; to hasten; to flit as a light substance.
(n. & a.) To slip on the whelps or the barrel of a capstan or windlass; -- said of a cable or hawser.
(v. t.) To pass over rapidly; to skin the surface of; as, a ship that fleets the gulf.
(v. t.) To hasten over; to cause to pass away lighty, or in mirth and joy.
(v. t.) To draw apart the blocks of; -- said of a tackle.
(v. t.) To cause to slip down the barrel of a capstan or windlass, as a rope or chain.
(v. i.) Swift in motion; moving with velocity; light and quick in going from place to place; nimble.
(v. i.) Light; superficially thin; not penetrating deep, as soil.
(v. i.) A number of vessels in company, especially war vessels; also, the collective naval force of a country, etc.
(v. i.) A flood; a creek or inlet; a bay or estuary; a river; -- obsolete, except as a place name, -- as Fleet Street in London.
(v. i.) A former prison in London, which originally stood near a stream, the Fleet (now filled up).
(v. i.) To take the cream from; to skim.
Checker: Terrance
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Flotilla, squadron, navy, ARMADA, company of ships.
a. Swift, rapid, quick.
Checked by Lanny
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See SWIFT]
Edited by Ahmed
Definition
adj. swift: nimble: transient: (prov.) shallow.—adjs. Fleet′-foot (Shak.) fleet or swift of foot; Fleet′ing passing quickly: temporary.—advs. Fleet′ingly; Fleet′ly.—n. Fleet′ness.
n. a number of ships in company esp. ships of war: a division of the navy commanded by an admiral.
n. a shallow creek or bay as in Northfleet Fleet-ditch &c.—The Fleet or Fleet Prison a London gaol down to 1842 long a place of confinement for debtors—clandestine marriages were solemnised here down to 1754 by broken-down clergymen confined for debt.
v.i. to flit pass swiftly.—v.t. (Shak.) to make to pass quickly:—pr.p. fleet′ing; pa.p. fleet′ed.
Checked by Eli
Unserious Contents or Definition
To see a large fleet moving rapidly in your dreams, denotes a hasty change in the business world. Where dulness oppressed, brisk workings of commercial wheels will go forward and some rumors of foreign wars will be heard.
Checked by Aida
Examples
- This is the Fleet, ma'am. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- The Dutch fleet, frozen in the Texel, surrendered to a handful of cavalry without firing its guns. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- A wild cry of exultation arose from the Heliumite squadron, and with redoubled ferocity they fell upon the Zodangan fleet. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
- He commands this fleet which has been searching for her since. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- It could be nothing other than a fleet of war. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- Haven't I seen you in the Fleet over and over again for contempt? Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- But it is not to be wondered at since no enemy guessed the existence upon Barsoom of such a fleet, or even of the First Born, or the Sea of Omean. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- The fleet followed him by sea, and rejoined him at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Ask the black that sweeps opposite Fleet Market, sir. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- You can go to the Fleet, my dear Sir, if you're determined to go somewhere,' said Perker. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Now the two great fleets closed in a titanic struggle far above the fiendish din of battle in the gorgeous gardens of the therns. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- We have great fleets in the Mediterranean, but they seldom touch at African ports. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Fleets and armies are maintained, not with gold and silver, but with consumable goods. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- His fleets also took Algiers, and inflicted a number of reverses upon the Venetians. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The persons employed in the finances, fleets, and magistracy, are instances of this order of men. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- The whaling fleets, long after gas came into use, were one of the greatest sources of our national wealth. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- To-day her piers are deserted, her warehouses are empty, her merchant fleets are vanished, her armies and her navies are but memories. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- A signal legible to every sailor of all the fleets engaged in that fierce struggle was strung aloft upon the flagship. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- There could be little or no manoeuvering of fleets in that crowded, fire-split sky. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- The sky was black with the three enormous fleets. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- The thought was fleeting; for his attention was instantly drawn towards the inhabitant of this wretched abode. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- It was impossible to help fleeting visions of another kind--new dignities and an acknowledged value of which she had often felt the absence. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Volley after volley they vomited upon the temple guards; volley on volley crashed through the thin air toward the fleeting and illusive fliers. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- He tried to scramble up the side of the cabin, and succeeded in catching a fleeting hold upon the thatched roof. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- He, too, had caught a fleeting backward glimpse of cruel yellow eyes and half open mouth within startling proximity of his person. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- This fleeting glimpse of her past served to emphasize the sense of aimlessness with which Lily at length turned toward home. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- I caught a fleeting grin passing across the features of the black as he heard her words. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- We stepped, as it were, right out of the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the most fleeting glance of the front of the house. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- How fleeting are the wishes and efforts of man! Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- At last he saw it, the thing the little monkeys so feared--the man-brute of which the Claytons had caught occasional fleeting glimpses. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Checker: Spenser