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definitions

fleet

2
[fleet]
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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.
  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.

Origin of fleet

2
before 900; Middle English fleten to be fleet, Old English flēotan to float; see float
Related formsfleet·ly, adverbfleet·ness, noun

Synonyms for fleet

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6. speed, hasten; beguile.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for fleetly

rapidly, swiftly, speedily, quickly, directly, hastily, instantly, expeditiously, instantaneously, immediately, promptly, hurriedly, early, shortly, soon, quick, swift, pronto, apace, chop-chop

Examples from the Web for fleetly

Historical Examples of fleetly

  • Fleetly David footed the stairs and returned with two soup plates.

    David Dunne

    Belle Kanaris Maniates

  • He espied the deep tracks of the elk and fleetly followed him.

    Zui Fetiches

    Frank Hamilton Cushing

  • Night that comes so fleetly in this country dropped like a veil.

    Penny of Top Hill Trail

    Belle Kanaris Maniates

  • You may know, perhaps, how fleetly a taste like this dilates.

    Alonzo Fitz and Other Stories

    Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

  • Scarcely an hour passed ere Trude returned as fleetly as she went.

British Dictionary definitions for fleetly

fleet

1
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

Word Origin for fleet

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

fleet

2
adjective
  1. rapid in movement; swift
  2. poetic fleeting; transient
verb
  1. (intr) to move rapidly
  2. (intr) archaic 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. (intr) obsolete to float or swim
  5. (tr) obsolete to cause (time) to pass rapidly
Derived Formsfleetly, adverbfleetness, noun

Word Origin for fleet

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

fleet

3
noun
  1. mainly Southeast English a small coastal inlet; creek

Word Origin for fleet

Old English flēot flowing water; see fleet 1

Fleet

noun the Fleet
  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
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for fleetly

fleet

adj.

"swift," 1520s, but probably older than the record; apparently from or cognate with Old Norse fliotr "swift," and from the root of fleet (v.)). Related: Fleetness.

fleet

v.

Old English fleotan "to float, drift, flow, swim, sail," later (c.1200) "to flow," from Proto-Germanic *fleut- (cf. Old Frisian fliata, Old Saxon fliotan "to flow," Old High German fliozzan "to float, flow," German flieszen "to flow," Old Norse fliota "to float, flow"), from PIE root *pleu- "to flow, run, swim" (see pluvial).

Meaning "to glide away like a stream, vanish imperceptibly" is from c.1200; hence "to fade, to vanish" (1570s). Related: Fleeted; fleeting.

fleet

n.

Old English fleot "ship, raft, floating vessel," from fleotan "to float" (see fleet (v.)). Sense of "naval force" is pre-1200. The Old English word also meant "creek, inlet, flow of water," especially one into the Thames near Ludgate Hill, which lent its name to Fleet Street (home of newspaper and magazine houses, standing for "the English press" since 1882), Fleet prison, etc.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper