fleet

n. [ OE. flete, fleote, AS. fleót ship, fr. fleótan 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fleet captain, the senior aid of the admiral of a fleet, when a captain. Ham. Nav. Encyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Fleeter superl. Fleetest. ] [ Cf. Icel. fljōtr quick. See Fleet, v. i. ] 1. Swift in motion; moving with velocity; light and quick in going from place to place; nimble. [ 1913 Webster ]

In mail their horses clad, yet fleet and strong. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Light; superficially thin; not penetrating deep, as soil. [ Prov. Eng. ] Mortimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. fleót 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Together wove we nets to entrap the fish
In floods and sedgy fleets. Matthewes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A former prison in London, which originally stood near a stream, the Fleet (now filled up). [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ AS. flēt cream, fr. fleótan to float. See Fleet, v. i. ] To take the cream from; to skim. [ Prov. Eng. ] Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. fleeted; p. pr. & vb. n. fleeting. ] [ OE. fleten, fleoten, to swim, AS. fleótan to swim, float; akin to D. vlieten to flow, OS. fliotan, OHG. fliozzan, G. fliessen, Icel. fljōta to float, flow, Sw. flyta, D. flyde, L. pluere to rain, Gr. plei^n to sail, swim, float, Skr. plu to swim, sail. √84. Cf. Fleet, n. & a., Float, Pluvial, Flow. ] 1. To sail; to float. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And in frail wood on Adrian Gulf doth fleet. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To fly swiftly; to pass over quickly; to hasten; to flit as a light substance. [ 1913 Webster ]

All the unaccomplished works of Nature's hand, . . .
Dissolved on earth, fleet hither. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) To slip on the whelps or the barrel of a capstan or windlass; -- said of a cable or hawser. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Naut.) To move or change in position; -- said of persons; as, the crew fleeted aft. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. Fleeted or skimmed milk. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Swift of foot. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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

Syn. -- Evanescent; ephemeral. See Transient. [ 1913 Webster ]