What is "fleet"

fleet \fleet\ (fl[=e]t), v. i. [imp. & p. p. fleeted; p. pr. & vb. n. fleeting.] [OE. fleten, fleoten, to swim, AS. fle['o]tan to swim, float; akin to D. vlieten to flow, OS. fliotan, OHG. fliozzan, G. fliessen, Icel. flj[=o]ta to float, flow, Sw. flyta, D. flyde, L. pluere to rain, Gr. plei^n to sail, swim, float, Skr. plu to swim, sail.

1. To sail; to float. [Obs.]

   And in frail wood on Adrian Gulf doth fleet.
   --Spenser.

2. To fly swiftly; to pass over quickly; to hasten; to flit as a light substance.

   All the unaccomplished works of Nature's hand, . . . Dissolved on earth, fleet hither.
   --Milton.

3. (Naut.) To slip on the whelps or the barrel of a capstan or windlass; -- said of a cable or hawser.

4. (Naut.) To move or change in position; -- said of persons; as, the crew fleeted aft.

Old English fleot "a ship, raft, floating vessel," also, collectively, "means of sea travel; boats generally," from fleotan "to float" (see fleet (v.)). Sense of "naval force, group of ships under one command" is in late Old English. The more usual Old English word was flota "a ship," also "a fleet; a sailor." The fleet for "the navy" is from 1712.\n

\nThe Old English word also meant "estuary, inlet, flow of water," especially the 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 (long used for debtors), etc.

"swift," 1520s, but probably older than the record; apparently from or cognate with Old Norse fliotr "swift," from Proto-Germanic *fleuta, which is related to the source of fleet (v.). Related: Fleetness.

Old English fleotan "to float; drift; flow, run (as water); swim; sail (of a ship)," from Proto-Germanic *fleutan (cognates: Old Frisian fliata, Old Saxon fliotan "to flow," Old High German fliozzan "to float, flow," German fliessen "to flow, run, trickle" (as water), Old Norse fliota "to float, flow"), from PIE root *pleu- "to flow, run, swim" (see pluvial).\n

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

Etymology 1 n. 1 A group of vessels or vehicles. 2 Any group of associated items. 3 (context nautical English) A number of vessels in company, especially war vessels; also, the collective naval force of a country, etc. 4 (context nautical British Royal Navy English) Any command of vessels exceeding a squadron in size, or a rear-admiral's command, composed of five sail-of-the-line, with any number of smaller vessels. Etymology 2

n. 1 (context obsolete English) A flood; a creek or inlet, a bay or estuary, a river subject to the tide. cognate to Low German fleet 2 (context nautical English) A location, as on a navigable river, where barges are secured. Etymology 3

1. 1 (context literary English) swift in motion; moving with velocity; light and quick in going from place to place; nimble; fast. 2 (context uncommon English) Light; superficially thin; not penetrating deep, as soil. v

2. 1 (context obsolete English) To float. 2 To pass over rapidly; to skim the surface of 3 To hasten over; to cause to pass away lightly, or in mirth and joy 4 (context nautical English) To move up a rope, so as to haul to more advantage; especially to draw apart the blocks of a tackle. 5 (context nautical intransitive of people English) To move or change in position. 6 (context nautical obsolete English) To shift the position of dead-eyes when the shrouds are become too long. 7 To cause to slip down the barrel of a capstan or windlass, as a rope or chain. 8 To take the cream from; to skim.

1. n. group of aircraft operating together under the same ownership

2. group of motor vehicles operating together under the same ownership

3. a group of steamships operating together under the same ownership

4. a group of warships organized as a tactical unit

1. v. move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart [syn: flit, flutter, dart]

2. disappear gradually; "The pain eventually passed off" [syn: evanesce, fade, blow over, pass off, pass]

adj. moving very fast; "fleet of foot"; "the fleet scurrying of squirrels"; "a swift current"; "swift flight of an arrow"; "a swift runner" [syn: swift]

Fleet may refer to:

A fleet is a saline waterway within the North Kent Marshes in Kent, England, on the Hoo Peninsula between Rochester and Gravesend and on the Isle of Sheppey. It also has the meaning creek or inlet. The word comes from the Old English Flëot 798, Fletes 1086. They a part of a nature reserve.

In the Cliffe Marshes the most prominent are the

• Cliffe Fleet
• Hope Fleet
• Salt Fleet
• Decoy Fleet

On Sheppey the most prominent is the

• Capel Fleet.

Fleet (1964 – after 1979), known in the United States as Fleet II, was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare who won the classic 1000 Guineas in 1967. In a racing career lasting from June 1966 until July 1967, the filly contested nine races (including one occasion on which she refused to start) and won five times. As a two-year-old in 1966, Fleet won two of her three races including the Cheveley Park Stakes and was the highest rated filly of her age in Britain. In the following year she won three races over a distance of one mile including the 1000 Guineas and the Coronation Stakes. When tried over longer distances she finished fourth in the Epsom Oaks and Eclipse Stakes. She was retired to stud where she had some success as a broodmare in Britain and the United States.

Fleet is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

• Charles Browne Fleet (1843-1916), American pharmacist
• David Fleet (born 1954), Canadian politician
• Frank Fleet (1848-1900), American baseball player
• Frederick Fleet (1887-1965), British sailor and Titanic survivor
• Greg Fleet (born 1962), Australian comedian
• James Fleet (born 1954), British actor
• John Faithfull Fleet (1847–1917), historian, epigraphist and linguist
• John Fleet (Lord Mayor) (1648–1712), Member of Parliament and Sheriff for London
• John Fleet (MP), Member of Parliament for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (UK Parliament constituency) in 1397
• Pat Fleet (born 1943), American voice actress
• Preston Fleet (1934-1995), American businessman
• Reuben H. Fleet (1887-1975), American aviation pioneer
• Stephen Fleet (1936-2006), British administrator