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• fleet
  fleet

  noun

  the largest organized unit of naval ships grouped for tactical or other purposes.
• Fleet
  Fleet

  noun

  a stream that formerly ran into the Thames between Ludgate Hill and Fleet Street and is now a covered sewer

fleet

¹ American  

[fleet] / flit /

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.

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fleet ² American  

[fleet] / flit /

adjective

fleeter, fleetest

1. swift; rapid.

   to be fleet of foot;

   a fleet horse.

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verb (used without object)

• fleets,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fleeted,
  past participle,  past
• fleeting
  present participle

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)

• fleets,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fleeted,
  past participle,  past
• fleeting
  present participle

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 American  

[fleet] / flit /

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.

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fleet ¹ British  

/ fliːt /

adjective

1. rapid in movement; swift

2. poetic fleeting; transient

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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 British  

/ 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

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Fleet ³ British  

/ 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 called: Fleet Prison. (formerly) a London prison, esp used for holding debtors

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fleet ⁴ British  

/ fliːt /

noun

1. a small coastal inlet; creek

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• fleetness
  noun
• fleetly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• fleeting
  present
• fleeted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• fleet
  simple
• fleets
  simple
• have fleeted
  perfect
• has fleeted
  perfect
• am fleeting
  progressive
• are fleeting
  progressive
• is fleeting
  progressive
• have been fleeting
  perfect progressive
• has been fleeting
  perfect progressive

Past

• fleeted
  simple
• had fleeted
  perfect
• was fleeting
  progressive
• were fleeting
  progressive
• had been fleeting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will fleet
  simple
• will have fleeted
  perfect
• will be fleeting
  progressive
• will have been fleeting
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of fleet¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English flete, fleot(e), Old English flēot “bay, estuary; boat,” derivative of flēotan float ( def. ); cf. 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 ³ def. 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. )

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Explanation

A fleet is usually a large group of ships, but it can be any group of vessels like planes or cars that operate as a unit. A naval fleet is the largest formation of warships. A naval fleet at sea is like an army on land. One meaning of fleet comes from the Old English fleot, meaning “ship,” “raft,” or “floating vessel.” Although a fleet is usually a group of ships or airplanes operating under the same ownership, any group of vessels sailing together can be called a fleet, even you and your friends in a fleet of kayaks. Another meaning of fleet originates in the Old English flēotan, which means “moving swiftly.” When it’s used in that way, it’s usually in the -ing form, fleeting.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fleet Fleet fleeter fleetest fleets fleeted fleeting

He pointed to the Stuxnet virus in 2010, which caused a series of failures in Iran's centrifuge fleet used for uranium enrichment, as a past example.

From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026

Hunting down the shadow fleet offers Ukraine a number of strategic advantages in its fight against the Russian invasion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026

Other San Diego residents have complained about sharing the city’s limited charging infrastructure with a new Waymo fleet that just launched in the region.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

A former Deutsche Bank executive got into business with the kingpins of Russia’s shadow fleet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

A fleet of trucks with monster wheels, followed by other kinds of trucks—food trucks, vans, carnival rides on eighteen-wheelers.

From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby

A young woman came into Fleet Feet in Minneapolis with days before her first marathon and a big worry: Her knee had started hurting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

Scientists now estimate that approximately 2.22 million Indigenous people lived across the continent before the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, potentially up to seven times the number suggested by some earlier calculations.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026

“As we enter this next chapter, our Fleet team remains committed to providing the service, expertise and support our clients have come to expect from Quixote,” the company wrote in an email.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

Central Command headquarters, some in the Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain, some on each ship.

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026

Elsewhere in the city was a Fleet Week celebration, and every so often the Blue Angels flew overhead as part of the air show.

From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

The Rams defense will try to neutralize the 44-year-old Brady, who is not as mobile as younger, fleeter quarterbacks but remains a master at moving in the pocket.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2022

Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds, Russell and Baez and Riz.

From New York Times ● Oct. 22, 2016

Something kind of similar is happening in the fleeter, more escapist Arrow and The Flash, two ongoing series on the CW based on DC Comics characters.

From Slate ● Mar. 9, 2015

Tendulkar, still fleeter of foot than some of his peers, was the man in fruitless pursuit.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 21, 2011

Fearing, however, that larger forces might be lying in ambush in the fields, and perceiving that the enemy's cavalry was fleeter than his own, he abandoned the pursuit and reached Point Isabel about nine o'clock.

From History of the War Between Mexico and the United States, with a Preliminary View of its Origin, Volume 1 by Brantz Mayer

Edney, the fleetest player on the team, had been doing this sort of thing since taking his talents from the home driveway to youth league games at Victoria Park gym in Carson.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2020

Calderon, whose contract runs through next season, has never been the fleetest afoot, and his defense has not aged well.

From New York Times ● Jan. 28, 2016

Never mind that other established players, such as Sacramento Kings all-star center DeMarcus Cousins, have dubbed him the league’s fleetest.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 16, 2015

"I'm not the fleetest of foot but I was just fast enough to get there."

From Reuters ● Oct. 16, 2015

Emory says of the Maricopa interpreter, Thirsty Hawk, before alluded to, that he came running into their camp on foot and “appeared to keep pace with the fleetest horse.”

From Aw-Aw-Tam Indian Nights Being the myths and legends of the Pimas of Arizona by J. William Lloyd

“The biggest online retailers and grocers are racing ahead, building their own delivery fleets, warehouses, membership programs, and AI shopping assistants,” the companies said in their release.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026

Companies at the forefront of drone deliveries say they are also working to reduce the noise of their fleets.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

The money will go towards 14 schemes across England, including new urgent care centres, ambulance fleets and upgrades to emergency departments.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026

Oil futures ended the session mixed with Brent modestly lower while WTI gained on bullish inventory data and reports that the U.S. could ease some sanctions on tankers that form part of shadow fleets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

One decision stopped fleets over the whole of China.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Another day of hiding and a night of journey had fleeted by.

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien

Years, years fleeted over— I stood at her foot: The bud had grown blossom, The blossom was fruit.

From The Golden Treasury Selected from the Best Songs and Lyrical Poems in the English Language and arranged with Notes by Various

There had fleeted the happiest hours of her life.

From The Joy of Captain Ribot by Armando Palacio Vald?s

The eventful days leading slowly, but all too surely, towards the tragedy which is too apt to follow the idyllic course of our early years, fleeted by; a too peaceful, undisturbed period had arrived.

From The Crooked Stick or Pollies's Probation by Rolf Boldrewood

A notice of extinct birds would be incomplete without reference to the dodo, the very existence of which had been lately questioned; so completely has it fleeted away from the earth.

From The Catholic World; Volume I, Issues 1-6 A Monthly Eclectic Magazine by E. Rameur

There seems to be far less in the incident at full speed, that the hold of the shirt is more fleeting with minimal impact.

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026

This is partly why those ripped-from-the-headlines streaming documentaries are so popular: They reflect stories that are buzzy but fleeting, perfect for those whose attention spans are already shot.

From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026

In “Self-Portrait, Age 23,” matter is palpable, mesmerizing, intensely present—yet also fleeting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

By comparison, meeting with elected elites, whose fleeting power depends on the whims of the populace, reminds him all too much of his own limitations.

From Slate ● Oct. 19, 2026

Cars honked and shoved busily past, sending out fleeting excerpts of whatever hot new single was getting overplayed on the radio.

From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older

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