fleet

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   moving very fast

   fleet of foot

2. 2
   noun

   A group of vessels or vehicles.

   He did discourse to us of the Dutch fleete being abroad, eighty-five of them still, and are now at the Texell, he believes, in expectation of our Eastland ships coming home with masts and hempe, and our loaden Hambrough ships going to Hambrough.

3. 3
   noun

   Any group of associated items.

   This is especially true in distributed printing environments, where a fleet of printers is shared by users on a network.

4. 4
   noun

   A large, coordinated group of people.

   And after the past few days, in which a fleet of Republicans and the president himself have utilized Jews as human shields for racist rhetoric, the Jews are tired, tired, tired of being used as defenses against naked racism, tired of being used to justify conditions at detention camps. Just plain tired.

5. 5
   noun

   A number of vessels in company, especially war vessels; also, the collective naval force of a country, etc.

   Despite the line proving to be a useful strategic route for men and supplies to the British naval fleets stationed at Scapa Flow in both world wars, the Duke's legacy looked to have passed into history when it was listed for closure in the infamous Beeching report.

6. 6
   noun

   An arm of the sea; a run of water, such as an inlet or a creek.

   a certain Flete [...] through which little Boats used to come to the aforesaid Town

7. 7
   verb

   To float.

   Legions of Spirits fleeting in the aire, Direct our Bullets and our weapons pointes […]

8. 8
   verb

   To pass over rapidly; to skim the surface of.

   Long were to tell the troublous stormes, that tosse The private state, and make the life unsweet Who swelling sayles in Caspian sea doth crosse, And in frayle wood on Adrian gulf doth fleet

Etymology

From Middle English flete (“bay, gulf”), from Old English flēot (“a bay, gulf, an arm of the sea, estuary, the mouth of a river”), from Proto-West Germanic *fleut, from Proto-Germanic *fleutą. Cognate with Dutch vliet (“stream, river, creek, inlet”), German Fleet (“watercourse, canal”).