fleet 1
(flēt)n.1. A number of warships operating together under one command.
2. A number of vessels having a shared origin, purpose, or area of operation: the Japanese merchant fleet; the North Pacific fishing fleet.
3. A group of vehicles, such as taxicabs or airliners, owned or operated as a unit.
fleet 2
(flēt)adj. fleet·er,
fleet·est 1. Moving swiftly and nimbly. See Synonyms at
fast1.
2. Fleeting; evanescent.
v. fleet·ed, fleet·ing, fleets
v.intr.1. To move or pass swiftly: The summer days fleeted by.
2. To fade; vanish: beauty that is fleeting away.
3. Obsolete To flow.
4. Obsolete To drift.
v.tr.1. To cause (time) to pass quickly.
2. Nautical To alter the position of (tackle or rope, for example).
[Probably from Old Norse
fljōtr. V., from Middle English
fleten,
to drift, float, from Old English
flēotan; see
pleu- in
Indo-European roots.]
fleet′ly adv.
fleet′ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
fleeter
(ˈfliːtə) n1. fishing a person engaged in fleeting or trawling
2. archaic a deserter; a fugitive
3. nautical a person who sails with a fleet of ships, esp those who sailed as colonists to Australia with the early fleets
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014