Part 196

In mail their horses clad, yet fleet and strong.

Milton.

2. Light; superficially thin; not penetrating deep, as soil. [Prov. Eng.] Mortimer.

Fleet, n. [OE. flete, fleote, AS. fleÛt ship, fr. fleÛtan to float, swim. See Fleet, v. i. and cf. Float.] A number of vessels in company, especially war vessels; also, the collective naval force of a country, etc.

Fleet captain, the senior aid of the admiral of a fleet, when a captain. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Fleet, n. [AS. fleÛt a place where vessels float, bay, river; akin to D. vliet rill, brook, G. fliess. See Fleet, v. i.] 1. A flood; a creek or inlet; a bay or estuary; a river; -- obsolete, except as a place name, -- as Fleet Street in London.

Together wove we nets to entrap the fish In floods and sedgy fleets.

Matthewes.

2. A former prison in London, which originally stood near a stream, the Fleet (now filled up).

Fleet parson, a clergyman of low character, in, or in the vicinity of, the Fleet prison, who was ready to unite persons in marriage (called Fleet marriage) at any hour, without public notice, witnesses, or consent of parents.

Fleet (?), v. t. [AS. flt cream, fr. fleÛtan to float. See Fleet, v. i.] To take the cream from; to skim. [Prov. Eng.] Johnson.

Fleet"en (?), n. Fleeted or skimmed milk. [Obs.]

Fleeten face, a face of the color of fleeten, i. e., blanched; hence, a coward. "You know where you are, you fleeten face." Beau. & Fl.

Fleet"-foot` (?), a. Swift of foot. Shak.

Fleet"ing, a. Passing swiftly away; not durable; transient; transitory; as, the fleeting hours or moments.

Syn. -- Evanescent; ephemeral. See Transient.

Fleet"ing*ly, adv. In a fleeting manner; swiftly.

Fleet"ings (?), n. pl. A mixture of buttermilk and boiling whey; curds. [prov. Eng.] Wright.

Fleet"ly, adv. In a fleet manner; rapidly.

Fleet"ness, n. Swiftness; rapidity; velocity; celerity; speed; as, the fleetness of a horse or of time.

Fleigh (?), obs. imp. of Fly. Chaucer.

Fleme (?), v. t. [AS. flman, flman.] To banish; to drive out; to expel. [Obs.] "Appetite flemeth discretion." Chaucer.

Flem"er (?), n. One who, or that which, banishes or expels. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Flem"ing (?), n. A native or inhabitant of Flanders.

Flem"ish (?), a. Pertaining to Flanders, or the Flemings. -- n. The language or dialect spoken by the Flemings; also, collectively, the people of Flanders.

Flemish accounts (Naut.), short or deficient accounts. [Humorous] Ham. Nav. Encyc. -- Flemish beauty (Bot.), a well known pear. It is one of few kinds which have a red color on one side. -- Flemish bond. (Arch.) See Bond, n., 8. -- Flemish brick, a hard yellow paving brick. -- Flemish coil, a flat coil of rope with the end in the center and the turns lying against, without riding over, each other. -- Flemish eye (Naut.), an eye formed at the end of a rope by dividing the strands and lying them over each other. -- Flemish horse (Naut.), an additional footrope at the end of a yard.

Flench (?), v. t. Same as Flence.

Flense (?), v. t. [Cf. Dan. flense, D. vlensen, vlenzen, Scot. flinch.] To strip the blubber or skin from, as from a whale, seal, etc.