Many young gentlemen flock to him, and fleet the time carelessly.
Shak.
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.
Fleet, a. [Compar. Fleeter (?); superl. Fleetest.] [Cf. Icel. flj&?;tr
quick. See Fleet, v. i.] 1. Swift in motion; moving with velocity;
light and quick in going from place to place; nimble.
In mail their horses clad, yet fleet and strong.
Milton.
2. Light; superficially thin; not penetrating deep, as soil. [Prov.
Eng.] Mortimer.
Fleet, n. [OE. flete, fleote, AS. fleÛt ship, fr. fleÛtan 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.
Fleet captain, the senior aid of the admiral of a fleet, when a
captain. Ham. Nav. Encyc.
Fleet, n. [AS. fleÛt 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.
Together wove we nets to entrap the fish In floods and sedgy
fleets.
Matthewes.
2. A former prison in London, which originally stood near a stream, the
Fleet (now filled up).
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.
Fleet (?), v. t. [AS. flt cream, fr. fleÛtan to float. See Fleet, v.
i.] To take the cream from; to skim. [Prov. Eng.] Johnson.