Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Fleet
Fleet
,Verb.
T.
1.
To pass over rapidly; to skin the surface of;
as, a ship that
. fleets
the gulfSpenser.
2.
To hasten over; to cause to pass away lighty, or in mirth and joy.
Many young gentlemen flock to him, and
fleet
the time carelessly. Shakespeare
(b)
To cause to slip down the barrel of a capstan or windlass, as a rope or chain.
1.
Swift in motion; moving with velocity; light and quick in going from place to place; nimble.
In mail their horses clad, yet
fleet
and strong. Milton.
2.
Light; superficially thin; not penetrating deep, as soil.
[Prov. Eng.]
Mortimer.
Fleet
,Noun.
[OE. and cf.
flete
, fleote
, AS. fleót
ship, fr. fleótan
to float, swim. See Fleet
, Verb.
I.
Float
.] A number of vessels in company, especially war vessels; also, the collective naval force of a country, etc.
Fleet captain
, the senior aid of the admiral of a fleet, when a captain.
Ham. Nav. Encyc.
Fleet
,Noun.
[AS. ]
fleót
a place where vessels float, bay, river; akin to D. vliet
rill, brook, G. fliess
. See Fleet
, Verb.
I.
1.
A flood; a creek or inlet; a bay or estuary; a river; – obsolete, except as a place name, – as Fleet Street in London.
Together wove we nets to entrap the fish
In floods and sedgy
In floods and sedgy
fleets
. Matthewes.
2.
A former prison in London, which originally stood near a stream, the Fleet (now filled up).
Fleet parson
, a clergyman of low character, in, or in the vicinity of, the Fleet prison, who was ready to unite persons in marriage (called Fleet marriage) at any hour, without public notice, witnesses, or consent of parents.
Fleet
,Verb.
T.
To take the cream from; to skim.
[Prov. Eng.]
Johnson.