Part 4377

<hw>Fleet</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>v. i.</tt> <wordforms>[<tt>imp. & p. p.</tt> <er>Fleeted</er>; <tt>p. pr. & vb. n.</tt> <er>Fleeting</er>.]</wordforms> <ety>[OE. <ets>fleten</ets>, <ets>fleoten</ets>, to swim, AS. <ets>fle\'a2tan</ets> to swim, float; akin to D. <ets>vlieten</ets> to flow, OS. <ets>fliotan</ets>, OHG. <ets>fliozzan</ets>, G. <ets>fliessen</ets>, Icel. <ets>flj&omac;ta</ets> to float, flow, Sw. <ets>flyta</ets>, D. <ets>flyde</ets>, L. <ets>pluere</ets> to rain, Gr. <?/ to sail, swim, float, Skr. <ets>plu</ets> to swim, sail. &root;84. Cf. <er>Fleet</er>, <tt>n.</tt> & <tt>a.</tt>, <er>Float</er>, <er>Pluvial</er>, <er>Flow</er>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>To sail; to float.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<blockquote>And in frail wood on Adrian Gulf doth <b>fleet</b>. <i>Spenser.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>To fly swiftly; to pass over quickly; to hasten; to flit as a light substance.</def>

<blockquote>All the unaccomplished works of Nature's hand, . . . Dissolved on earth, <b>fleet</b> hither. <i>Milton.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <fld>(Naut.)</fld> <def>To slip on the whelps or the barrel of a capstan or windlass; -- said of a cable or hawser.</def>

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<hw>Fleet</hw>, <tt>v. t.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>To pass over rapidly; to skin the surface of; <as>as, a ship that <ex>fleets</ex> the gulf</as>.</def>

<i>Spenser.</i>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>To hasten over; to cause to pass away lighty, or in mirth and joy.</def>

<blockquote>Many young gentlemen flock to him, and <b>fleet</b> the time carelessly. <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <fld>(Naut.)</fld> <sd>(a)</sd> <def>To draw apart the blocks of; -- said of a tackle.</def>

<i>Totten.</i>

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

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<hw>Fleet</hw>, <tt>a.</tt> <wordforms>[<tt>Compar.</tt> <er>Fleeter</er> <tt>(?)</tt>; <tt>superl.</tt> <er>Fleetest</er>.]</wordforms> <ety>[Cf. Icel. <ets>flj<?/tr</ets> quick. See <er>Fleet</er>, <tt>v. i.</tt>]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Swift in motion; moving with velocity; light and quick in going from place to place; nimble.</def>

<blockquote>In mail their horses clad, yet <b>fleet</b> and strong. <i>Milton.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Light; superficially thin; not penetring deep, as soil.</def> <mark>[Prov. Eng.]</mark>

<i>Mortimer.</i>

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<hw>Fleet</hw>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[OE. <ets>flete</ets>, <ets>fleote</ets>, AS. <ets>fle\'a2t</ets> ship, fr. <ets>fle\'a2tan</ets> to float, swim. See <er>Fleet</er>, <tt>v. i.</tt> and cf. <er>Float</er>.]</ety> <def>A number of vessels in company, especially war vessels; also, the collective naval force of a country, etc.</def>

<cs><col>Fleet captain</col>, <cd>the senior aid of the admiral of a fleet, when a captain.</cd></cs>

<i>Ham. Nav. Encyc.</i>

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<hw>Fleet</hw>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[AS. <ets>fle\'a2t</ets> a place where vessels float, bay, river; akin to D. <ets>vliet</ets> rill, brook, G. <ets>fliess</ets>. See <er>Fleet</er>, <tt>v. i.</tt>]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>A flood; a creek or inlet; a bay or estuary; a river; -- obsolete, except as a place name, -- as <i>Fleet</i> Street in London.</def>

<blockquote>Together wove we nets to entrap the fish In floods and sedgy <b>fleets</b>. <i>Matthewes.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>A former prison in London, which originally stood near a stream, the <i>Fleet</i> (now filled up).</def>

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

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