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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

fleet en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • (General-American) audio
  • [ˈflɪi̯t]
  • /ˈfliːt/

Etymology

From Middle English flete, flet (“fleet”), from Old English flēot (“ship”), likely related to Proto-West Germanic *flotōn, from Proto-Germanic *flutōną (“to float”).

Meanings

  1. (collective) A group of vessels or vehicles, generally operating in a unified way or traveling together.
    • merchant fleet, shadow fleet
    • It was planning to use an '807' for one day only as part of a shakedown test, ahead of the fleet's formal entry to service which is currently planned for November. 2024 October 30, “Network News: Avanti prepares for Class 807s to enter traffic”, in RAIL, number 1021, page 12:
    • A fleet of warships is heading this way.
    • He did discourse to us of the Dutch fleete being abroad, eighty-five of them still, and are now at the Texell, he believes, in expectation of our Eastland ships coming home with masts and hempe, and our loaden Hambrough ships going to Hambrough. 1665 October 10 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “October 1st, 1665”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume V, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1895, →OCLC, page 100:
  2. (collective) A group of vessels or vehicles, generally operating in a unified way or traveling together. ▸ The vehicles commercially owned by a person, company or agency.
    • fleet car, fleet truck, fleet vehicle
    • She owns a fleet of private medical transport vans.
  3. (collective) A group of vessels or vehicles, generally operating in a unified way or traveling together. ▸ A number of vessels in company, especially war vessels; the vessels commanded by a single officer; also, the collective naval force of a country, etc.
    • Despite the line proving to be a useful strategic route for men and supplies to the British naval fleets stationed at Scapa Flow in both world wars, the Duke's legacy looked to have passed into history when it was listed for closure in the infamous Beeching report. 2021 October 20, Paul Stephen, “Leisure and pleasure on the Far North Line”, in RAIL, number 942, page 48:
    • We must invest in our fleet for our national security.
  4. (British-Royal-Navy, collective) A group of vessels or vehicles, generally operating in a unified way or traveling together. ▸ 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.
  5. (collective) A large, coordinated group of people.
    • And after the past few days, in which a fleet of Republicans and the president himself have utilized Jews as human shields for racist rhetoric, the Jews are tired, tired, tired of being used as defenses against naked racism, tired of being used to justify conditions at detention camps. Just plain tired. 2019 July 17, Talia Lavin, “When Non-Jews Wield Anti-Semitism as Political Shield”, in GQ:
  6. Any group of associated items.
    • This is especially true in distributed printing environments, where a fleet of printers is shared by users on a network. 2004, Jim Hoskins, Building an on Demand Computing Environment with IBM:
  7. (Scotland) Any group of associated items. ▸ A street gang.
  8. The individual waves in corrugated fiberboard.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
fleete alternative, obsolete lexicographic
fleets Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

fleet race · fleetful · ghost fleet · flog someone round the fleet · mosquito fleet · merchant fleet · subfleet · battle fleet · dark fleet · fleetside · nonfleet · fleet racing · fleetwide · fleetmate · carfleet · airfleet · shadow fleet · interfleet · fleet leader · fleet carrier · fleet landing · fleet in being · fleet captain · fleetname · admiral of the fleet · fleet admiral · starfleet · fleet up

Hypernyms

group

Hyponyms

flotilla · formation · squadron · armada · convoy · motorcade

Meronyms

watercraft · vessel · spacecraft · aircraft · automobile · vehicle

Relateds

weaponry · Appendix:Glossary of collective nouns by collective term · List of collective nouns on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Synonyms

fleet · company cars · carfleet

Translations (113)

ru парк (group of vessels or vehicles) · kk парк (group of vessels or vehicles) · km នាវាចរ (group of vessels or vehicles) · lt flotilė (group of vessels or vehicles) · ta கடற்படை (group of vessels or vehicles) · gd cabhlach (group of vessels or vehicles) · be фляты́лія (group of vessels or vehicles) · mi kahupapa (group of vessels or vehicles) · cmn 船隊 /船队 (group of vessels or vehicles) · ca flota (group of vessels or vehicles) · ru флот (group of vessels or vehicles) · ro flotilă (group of vessels or vehicles) · et laevastik (group of vessels or vehicles) · uz park (group of vessels or vehicles) · lv flote (group of vessels or vehicles) · crh flot (group of vessels or vehicles) · ar أُسْطُول (group of vessels or vehicles) · af vloot (group of vessels or vehicles) · sv flotta (group of vessels or vehicles) · gl frota (group of vessels or vehicles) · ca estol (group of vessels or vehicles) · da flåde (group of vessels or vehicles) · cs loďstvo (group of vessels or vehicles) · nn flåte (group of vessels or vehicles) · sh фло̏та (group of vessels or vehicles) · it flotta (group of vessels or vehicles) · nb flåte (group of vessels or vehicles) · mn парк (group of vessels or vehicles) · fi kalusto (group of associated items) · ms armada (group of vessels or vehicles) · sh flȍta (group of vessels or vehicles) · be флёт (group of vessels or vehicles) · uk парк (group of vessels or vehicles) · tr filo (group of vessels or vehicles) · bn নৌবহর (group of vessels or vehicles) · nn vognpark (group of vessels or vehicles) · tg новгон (group of vessels or vehicles) · tg флот (group of vessels or vehicles) · mk флота (group of vessels or vehicles) · nrf fliotte (group of vessels or vehicles) · ja フリート (group of vessels or vehicles) · pdt Flott (group of vessels or vehicles) · pt frota (group of vessels or vehicles) · sk loďstvo (group of vessels or vehicles) · cy llu môr (group of vessels or vehicles) · mn флот (group of vessels or vehicles) · ga loingeas (group of vessels or vehicles) · fi laivasto (group of vessels or vehicles) · be флот (group of vessels or vehicles) · sk flotila (group of vessels or vehicles) · ka ფლოტილია (group of vessels or vehicles) · sl flota (group of vessels or vehicles) · or ଜାହାଜ (group of vessels or vehicles) · tr donanma (group of vessels or vehicles) · io floto (group of vessels or vehicles) · el στόλος (group of vessels or vehicles) · fa-ira ناوْگان (group of vessels or vehicles) · de Flotte (group of vessels or vehicles) · uk флот (group of vessels or vehicles) · vi hạm đội (group of vessels or vehicles) · ky флот (group of vessels or vehicles) · my ယာဉ်စု (group of vessels or vehicles) · es flota (group of vessels or vehicles) · eo floto (group of vessels or vehicles) · he צִי (group of vessels or vehicles) · th ทัพเรือ (group of vessels or vehicles) · ga cabhlach (group of vessels or vehicles) · es flotilla (group of vessels or vehicles) · sk flota (group of vessels or vehicles) · nn flote (group of vessels or vehicles) · ru флоти́лия (group of vessels or vehicles) · cmn 艦隊 /舰队 (group of vessels or vehicles) · az park (group of vessels or vehicles) · ja 艦隊 (group of vessels or vehicles) · fr flotte (group of vessels or vehicles) · bg фло́та (group of vessels or vehicles) · sq flotë (group of vessels or vehicles) · cs flota (group of vessels or vehicles) · oc flòta (group of vessels or vehicles) · ro flotă (group of vessels or vehicles) · fi kalusto (group of vessels or vehicles) · ka ფლოტი (group of vessels or vehicles) · kk флот (group of vessels or vehicles) · be парк (group of vessels or vehicles) · fi ajokalusto (group of vessels or vehicles) · eu ontzidi (group of vessels or vehicles) · nb vognpark (group of vessels or vehicles) · th กองเรือ (group of vessels or vehicles) · pl flota (group of vessels or vehicles) · bg парк (group of vessels or vehicles) · be флёта (group of vessels or vehicles) · az donanma (group of vessels or vehicles) · ky парк (group of vessels or vehicles) · fi liikkuva kalusto (group of vessels or vehicles) · nl vloot (group of vessels or vehicles) · cy lluon môr (group of vessels or vehicles) · uk флоти́лія (group of vessels or vehicles) · uz flot (group of vessels or vehicles) · mi kaupapa (group of vessels or vehicles) · be флаты́лія (group of vessels or vehicles) · pl tabor (group of vessels or vehicles) · ja 船隊 (group of vessels or vehicles) · tl plota (group of vessels or vehicles) · ko 함대 (group of vessels or vehicles) · mi tāruru (group of vessels or vehicles) · hy տորմիղ (group of vessels or vehicles) · eu flota (group of vessels or vehicles) · lo ກອງເຮືອ (group of vessels or vehicles) · hu flotta (group of vessels or vehicles) · es parque (group of vessels or vehicles) · ko 선단 (group of vessels or vehicles) · is floti (group of vessels or vehicles) · la classis (group of vessels or vehicles)

fleet en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • (General-American) audio
  • [ˈflɪi̯t]
  • /ˈfliːt/

Etymology

From Middle English flete (“bay, gulf”), from Old English flēot (“a bay, gulf, an arm of the sea, estuary, the mouth of a river”), from Proto-West Germanic *fleut, from Proto-Germanic *fleutą. Cognate with Dutch vliet (“stream, river, creek, inlet”), German Fleet (“watercourse, canal”).

Meanings

  1. (dialectal, qualifier:obsolete outside of place names) An arm of the sea; a run of water, such as an inlet or a creek.
    • Together wove we nets to entrap the fish In floods and sedgy fleets. 1628, A. Matthewes (translator), Aminta (originally by Torquato Tasso)
    • a certain Flete [...] through which little Boats used to come to the aforesaid Town 1723, John Lewis, The History and Antiquities, Ecclesiastical and Civil, of the Isle of Tenet in Kent:
  2. A location, as on a navigable river, where barges are secured.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
fleets Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

Fleet · Fleet Street · Cargo Fleet · Northfleet

Hypernyms

group

Hyponyms

flotilla · formation · squadron · armada · convoy · motorcade

Meronyms

watercraft · vessel · spacecraft · aircraft · automobile · vehicle

Relateds

weaponry · Appendix:Glossary of collective nouns by collective term · List of collective nouns on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Synonyms

fleet

fleet en · ADJ · etymology 3

Pronunciation

  • (General-American) audio
  • [ˈflɪi̯t]
  • /ˈfliːt/

Etymology

From Middle English fleten (“float”), from Old English flēotan (“float”), from Proto-West Germanic *fleutan, from Proto-Germanic *fleutaną.

Meanings

  1. (literary) Swift in motion; light and quick in going from place to place.
    • Aye, the Chicopee, a fine-un, she were. Clean built and trig-lookin’! None more fleet in ‘64 than she... 2019, Robert Eggers, Max Eggers, The Lighthouse (motion picture), spoken by Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe), set in Maine, United States, during the 1890s with dialogue written to reflect the time period:
    • […]it was not till the afternoon that they came out on the high-road, their first high-road; and there disaster, fleet and unforeseen, sprang out on them — disaster momentous indeed to their expedition[…] 1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:
    • In mail their horses clad, yet fleet and strong. 1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 3:
  2. (uncommon) Light; superficially thin; not penetrating deep, as soil.
    • fleet Soil, and that 'tis mixed with a great quantity of Earth, Marle, Mud or Clay, &c. 1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
more fleet Degree=Cmp lexicographic
fleetest Degree=Sup lexicographic
most fleet Degree=Sup lexicographic
fleeter Degree=Cmp lexicographic

Deriveds

fleetly · fleetfooted · fleet of foot · fleetness · fleetfoot

Synonyms

fast · nimble

Translations (8)

osa kˀą́saaki (swift in motion) · grc ὠκύς (swift in motion) · ru прыткий (swift in motion) · grc ταχύς (swift in motion) · la vēlōx (swift in motion) · sa आशु (swift in motion) · pdt flott (nds) (swift in motion) · ru проворный (swift in motion)

fleet en · VERB · etymology 3

Pronunciation

  • (General-American) audio
  • [ˈflɪi̯t]
  • /ˈfliːt/

Etymology

From Middle English fleten (“float”), from Old English flēotan (“float”), from Proto-West Germanic *fleutan, from Proto-Germanic *fleutaną.

Meanings

  1. (intransitive, obsolete) To float.
    • Antony: Our force by land / Hath nobly held; our sever'd navy too, / Have knit again, and fleet, threat'ning most sea-like. c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene xi]:
    • Legions of Spirits fleeting in the aire, Direct our Bullets and our weapons pointes […] c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:
  2. (ambitransitive) To pass over rapidly; to skim the surface of.
    • Long were to tell the troublous stormes, that tosse The private state, and make the life unsweet Who swelling sayles in Caspian sea doth crosse, And in frayle wood on Adrian gulf doth fleet 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
  3. (ambitransitive) To hasten over; to cause to pass away lightly, or in mirth and joy.
    • They say he is already in the Forest of Arden, and a many merry men with him; and there they live like the old Robin Hood of England. They say many young gentlemen flock to him every day and fleet the time carelessly, as they did in the golden world. c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
    • And so through this dark world they fleet / Divided, till in death they meet. 1817-18, Percy Shelley, Rosalind and Helen, lines 626-627
  4. (intransitive) To flee, to escape, to speed away.
    • Gratiano:O, be thou damn'd, inexecrable dog! And for thy life let justice be accused. Thou almost makest me waver in my faith, To hold opinion with Pythagoras, That souls of animals infuse themselves Into the trunks of men: thy currish spirit Govern'd a wolf, who, hang'd for human slaughter, Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet, And, whilst thou lay'st in thy unhallow'd dam, Infused itself in thee; for thy desires Are wolfish, bloody, starved, and ravenous. c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
    • It began to be chill; the tide was rapidly fleeting seaward, the schooner settling more and more on her beam-ends. 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
    • At these reproaches she fainted away; and when at length she revived, full of the profoundest grief, she declared to him that she must now depart from him, and, in obedience to a decree of destiny, fleet about the earth in pain and suffering, as a spectre, until the day of doom[.] 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume II, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 303:
  5. (intransitive) To evanesce, disappear, die out.
    • Portia:How all other passions fleet to air, As doubtful thoughts, and rash-embraced despair, And shuddering fear, and green-eyed jealousy! O love, be moderate; allay thy ecstasy; In measure rain thy joy; scant this excess! I feel too much thy blessing; make it less, For fear I surfeit! c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
  6. To move up a rope, so as to haul to more advantage; especially to draw apart the blocks of a tackle.
    • To fleet tackle when pennant block is used, the keeper, with a strap and heaver, racks both parts of hawser together near pennant block, and the tackle is then overhauled and hooked by the men assigned to those duties. 1899, Regulations for the Government of the Life-Saving Service of the United States:
  7. (intransitive, of people) To move or change in position.
    • We got the long "stick" [...] down and "fleeted" aft, where it was secured. 1898, Frank T. Bullen, The Cruise of the "Cachalot":
  8. (obsolete) To shift the position of dead-eyes when the shrouds are become too long.
  9. To cause to slip down the barrel of a capstan or windlass, as a rope or chain.
  10. To take the cream from; to skim.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
fleeted Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
fleeted Tense=Past lexicographic
fleets Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
fleeting Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Translations (2)

bg минавам бързо (To pass over rapidly) · pl błąkać się (To pass over rapidly)

fleet en · NOUN · etymology 4

Pronunciation

  • (General-American) audio
  • [ˈflɪi̯t]
  • /ˈfliːt/

Etymology

See flet.

Meanings

  1. (Yorkshire, alt-of, obsolete) Obsolete form of flet (“house, floor, large room”).
    alt of flet
    • Fire and fleet and candle-lighte 1686, "Lyke Wake Dirge" as printed in The Oxford Book of English Verse (1900) p. 361

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
fleets Number=Plur lexicographic

Hypernyms

group

Hyponyms

flotilla · formation · squadron · armada · convoy · motorcade

Meronyms

watercraft · vessel · spacecraft · aircraft · automobile · vehicle

Relateds

weaponry · Appendix:Glossary of collective nouns by collective term · List of collective nouns on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Synonyms

fleet