FLEET

vt to draw apart the blocks of;

— said of a tackle.

2. fleet ·vi to take the cream from; to skim.

3. fleet ·vi light; superficially thin; not penetrating deep, as soil.

4. fleet ·vt to hasten over; to cause to pass away lighty, or in mirth and joy.

5. fleet ·noun & ·adj to sail; to float.

6. fleet ·vt to cause to slip down the barrel of a capstan or windlass, as a rope or chain.

7. fleet ·vt to pass over rapidly; to skin the surface of; as, a ship that fleets the gulf.

8. fleet ·add. ·vi to move or change in position;

— said of persons; as, the crew fleeted aft.

9. fleet ·vi a former prison in london, which originally stood near a stream, the fleet (now filled up).

10. fleet ·vi swift in motion; moving with velocity; light and quick in going from place to place; nimble.

11. fleet ·add. ·vt to move or change in position; used only in special phrases; as, of fleet aft the crew.

12. fleet ·noun & ·adj to slip on the whelps or the barrel of a capstan or windlass;

— said of a cable or hawser.

13. fleet ·vi a number of vessels in company, especially war vessels; also, the collective naval force of a country, ·etc.

14. fleet ·noun & ·adj to fly swiftly; to pass over quickly; to hasten; to flit as a light substance.

15. fleet ·vi a flood; a creek or inlet; a bay or estuary; a river;

— obsolete, except as a place name, — as fleet street in london.