Part 195

To fleer and scorn at our solemnity.

Shak.

2. To grin with an air of civility; to leer. [Obs.]

Grinning and fleering as though they went to a bear baiting.

Latimer.

Fleer, v. t. To mock; to flout at. Beau. & Fl.

Fleer, n. 1. A word or look of derision or mockery.

And mark the fleers, the gibes, and notable scorn.

Shak.

2. A grin of civility; a leer. [Obs.]

A sly, treacherous fleer on the face of deceivers.

South.

Fleer"er (?), n. One who fleers. Beau. & Fl.

Fleer"ing*ly, adv. In a fleering manner.

Fleet (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fleeted; p. pr. & vb. n. Fleeting.] [OE. fleten, fleoten, to swim, AS. fleÛtan to swim, float; akin to D. vlieten to flow, OS. fliotan, OHG. fliozzan, G. fliessen, Icel. fljta to float, flow, Sw. flyta, D. flyde, L. pluere to rain, Gr. &?; to sail, swim, float, Skr. plu to swim, sail. √84. Cf. Fleet, n. & a., Float, Pluvial, Flow.] 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.

Fleet, v. t. 1. To pass over rapidly; to skin the surface of; as, a ship that fleets the gulf. Spenser.

2. To hasten over; to cause to pass away lighty, or in mirth and joy.

Many young gentlemen flock to him, and fleet the time carelessly.

Shak.

3. (Naut.) (a) To draw apart the blocks of; -- said of a tackle. Totten.

(b) To cause to slip down the barrel of a capstan or windlass, as a rope or chain.

Fleet, a. [Compar. Fleeter (?); superl. Fleetest.] [Cf. Icel. flj&?;tr quick. See Fleet, v. i.] 1. Swift in motion; moving with velocity; light and quick in going from place to place; nimble.