fleet
    adj 1: moving very fast; "fleet of foot"; "the fleet scurrying
           of squirrels"; "a swift current"; "swift flight of an
           arrow"; "a swift runner" [syn: fleet, swift]
    n 1: group of aircraft operating together under the same
         ownership
    2: group of motor vehicles operating together under the same
       ownership
    3: a group of steamships operating together under the same
       ownership
    4: a group of warships organized as a tactical unit
    v 1: move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart; "The
         hummingbird flitted among the branches" [syn: flit,
         flutter, fleet, dart]
    2: disappear gradually; "The pain eventually passed off" [syn:
       evanesce, fade, blow over, pass off, fleet, pass]

Fleet \Fleet\, v. t.
   1. To pass over rapidly; to skin the surface of; as, a ship
      that fleets the gulf. --Spenser.
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   2. To hasten over; to cause to pass away lighty, or in mirth
      and joy.
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            Many young gentlemen flock to him, and fleet the
            time carelessly.                      --Shak.
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   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.
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   4. (Naut.) To move or change in position; used only in
      special phrases; as, of fleet aft the crew.

            We got the long "stick" . . . down and "fleeted"
            aft, where it was secured.            --F. T.
                                                  Bullen.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

fleet \fleet\ (fl[=e]t), v. i. [imp. & p. p. fleeted; p. pr. &
   vb. n. fleeting.] [OE. fleten, fleoten, to swim, AS.
   fle['o]tan to swim, float; akin to D. vlieten to flow, OS.
   fliotan, OHG. fliozzan, G. fliessen, Icel. flj[=o]ta to
   float, flow, Sw. flyta, D. flyde, L. pluere to rain, Gr.
   plei^n to sail, swim, float, Skr. plu to swim, sail.
   [root]84. Cf. Fleet, n. & a., Float, Pluvial, Flow.]
   1. To sail; to float. [Obs.]
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            And in frail wood on Adrian Gulf doth fleet.
                                                  --Spenser.
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   2. To fly swiftly; to pass over quickly; to hasten; to flit
      as a light substance.
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            All the unaccomplished works of Nature's hand, . . .
            Dissolved on earth, fleet hither.     --Milton.
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   3. (Naut.) To slip on the whelps or the barrel of a capstan
      or windlass; -- said of a cable or hawser.
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   4. (Naut.) To move or change in position; -- said of persons;
      as, the crew fleeted aft.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Fleet \Fleet\, a. [Compar. Fleeter; superl. Fleetest.] [Cf.
   Icel. flj[=o]tr quick. See Fleet, v. i.]
   1. Swift in motion; moving with velocity; light and quick in
      going from place to place; nimble.
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            In mail their horses clad, yet fleet and strong.
                                                  --Milton.
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   2. Light; superficially thin; not penetrating deep, as soil.
      [Prov. Eng.] --Mortimer.
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Fleet \Fleet\, v. t. [AS. fl[=e]t cream, fr. fle['o]tan to
   float. See Fleet, v. i.]
   To take the cream from; to skim. [Prov. Eng.] --Johnson.
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Fleet \Fleet\, n. [OE. flete, fleote, AS. fle['o]t ship, fr.
   fle['o]tan 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.
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   Fleet captain, the senior aid of the admiral of a fleet,
      when a captain. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.
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Fleet \Fleet\, n. [AS. fle['o]t 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.
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            Together wove we nets to entrap the fish
            In floods and sedgy fleets.           --Matthewes.
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   2. A former prison in London, which originally stood near a
      stream, the Fleet (now filled up).
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   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.
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FLEET, punishment, Eng. law, Saxon fleot. A place of running water, where 
the tide or float comes up. A prison in London, so called from a river or 
ditch which was formerly there, on the side of which it stood.