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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

The Ghost Shark can travel long distances and would work in tandem with the crewed submarine fleet, officials said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026

He claimed Nikola operated the largest hydrogen production facility in the Western Hemisphere to fuel the company’s fleet.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2026

Instead, with more autonomous trucks in the fleet, he hopes to offer them a more predictable work schedule.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

Tau operates a fleet of eight robots, shuttling them around the city two at a time in a blue Honda minivan.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

This day, the rebels again changed guard full in sight of our fleet, as if to mock us for our inactivity; they paraded with their hats hung on their bayonets.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

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

The permanent American naval presence in the Gulf stretches back to 1971, when the U.S. took over a British base in Bahrain and later made it the headquarters of the Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 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

He is just about the fastest marathoner alive, and so much faster than everyone else in the race, even if this marathon does not necessarily favor the fleetest in the field.

From New York Times ● Nov. 5, 2021

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

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

Now that they were in the open field it was a race that would go to the fleetest.

From The Meadow-Brook Girls Across Country The Young Pathfinders on a Summer Hike by Janet Aldridge

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

It found that most of those ships do not fully comply with the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency, a guide created by leading ocean-focused civil society groups detailing accountability standards for industrial fishing fleets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

"This will be very challenging for households and companies that drive a lot of miles, from commuters, haulage and delivery firms, businesses with large fleets all the way through to sole traders," he added.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

That makes the issue of how many Canadair fleets are available to member states more pressing than ever.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

In the battle between the British and French fleets in Chesapeake Bay, thanks to Washington’s agents, the French may have been reading Admiral Graves’s flag signals.

From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen

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

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

A score of lustres will have fleeted Before the Ministry of Art, Though it should make an early start, Can hope to see the thing completed.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 146, January 28, 1914 by Sir Owen Seaman

The dodo will be seen no more; the race has fleeted away.

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

There his cares were dissipated, and the troubles of life, real or imaginary, on light pinions fleeted away.

From Alida or, Miscellaneous Sketches of Incidents During the Late American War. Founded on Fact by Amelia Stratton Comfield

So they fleeted the too-short time in the sparkling blue and white world, drinking the air like celestial wine.

From The Invader A Novel by Margaret L. (Margaret Louisa) Woods

The hope for a Dodgers comeback in the National League Championship Series was fleeting.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Some find success sweet but fleeting, others spend years building to the pinnacle, and then there are those whose lasting glory evolves into a dynasty.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

Don’t assume future financial setbacks will be fleeting, though.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Researchers must effectively capture a snapshot of that fleeting moment and use the resulting particle patterns to reconstruct the properties of the quark-gluon plasma.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

I felt a fleeting sense of sadness, like when I’d realized how much Togbe’s death had aged Ma.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

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