FLEET

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fleet mean? 

• FLEET (noun)
  The noun FLEET has 4 senses:

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

  Familiarity information: FLEET used as a noun is uncommon.

• FLEET (adjective)
  The adjective FLEET has 1 sense:

1. moving very fast

  Familiarity information: FLEET used as an adjective is very rare.

• FLEET (verb)
  The verb FLEET has 2 senses:

1. move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart

2. disappear gradually

  Familiarity information: FLEET used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FLEET (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Group of aircraft operating together under the same ownership

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("fleet" is a kind of...):

accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)

Meronyms (members of "fleet"):

aircraft (a vehicle that can fly)

Holonyms ("fleet" is a part of...):

airline; airline business; airway (a commercial enterprise that provides scheduled flights for passengers)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Group of motor vehicles operating together under the same ownership

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("fleet" is a kind of...):

accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)

Meronyms (members of "fleet"):

autobus; bus; charabanc; coach; double-decker; jitney; motorbus; motorcoach; omnibus; passenger vehicle (a vehicle carrying many passengers; used for public transport)

cab; hack; taxi; taxicab (a car driven by a person whose job is to take passengers where they want to go in exchange for money)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fleet"):

motor pool (a fleet of military vehicles controlled by a single agency and available for use as needed)

Holonyms ("fleet" is a part of...):

bus line (an organization responsible for operating a bus transportation system)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A group of steamships operating together under the same ownership

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("fleet" is a kind of...):

steamship company; steamship line (a line responsible for the operation of a fleet of steamships)

Meronyms (members of "fleet"):

ship (a vessel that carries passengers or freight)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fleet"):

argosy (one or more large merchant ships)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A group of warships organized as a tactical unit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("fleet" is a kind of...):

accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)

Meronyms (members of "fleet"):

guided missile frigate (a frigate that carries guided missiles)

combat ship; war vessel; warship (a government ship that is available for waging war)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fleet"):

flotilla (a fleet of small craft)

flotilla (a United States Navy fleet consisting of two or more squadrons of small warships)

armada (a large fleet)

battle fleet (a fleet of warships prepared for battle)

wolf pack (a group of submarines operating together in attacking enemy convoys)

Holonyms ("fleet" is a member of...):

naval forces; navy (an organization of military vessels belonging to a country and available for sea warfare)

• FLEET (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Moving very fast

Synonyms:

fleet; swift

Context example:

a swift runner

Similar:

fast (acting or moving or capable of acting or moving quickly)

Derivation:

fleetness (rapidity of movement)

• FLEET (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

dart; fleet; flit; flutter

Context example:

The hummingbird flitted among the branches

Hypernyms (to "fleet" is one way to...):

hurry; speed; travel rapidly; zip (move very fast)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fleet"):

butterfly (flutter like a butterfly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Disappear gradually

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

blow over; evanesce; fade; fleet; pass; pass off

Context example:

The pain eventually passed off

Hypernyms (to "fleet" is one way to...):

disappear; go away; vanish (get lost, as without warning or explanation)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

 Context examples 

Why, there are men in the fleet who never had any schooling at all who could tell you that we had seven 74’s, seven 64’s, and two 50-gun ships in the action.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There was not an officer in the fleet to touch him.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This fleet sailed round, while I went back the shortest way to the coast, where I first discovered the boat.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Soon, however, he saw that our party had the start of him; and Ben Gunn, being fleet of foot, had been dispatched in front to do his best alone.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Last year, a fleet of NASA spacecraft got a detailed look at the life cycle of the 2018 global dust storm that ended the Opportunity rover's mission.

(Global Storms on Mars Launch Dust Towers Into the Sky, NASA)

Curiosity plus a fleet of spacecraft in the orbit of Mars, will allow scientists for the first time to collect a wealth of dust information both from the surface and from space.

(Martian Dust Storm Grows Global: Curiosity Captures Photos of Thickening Haze, NASA)

The speed of a fleet, you know, is the speed of the slowest ship, and the speed of the teachers is affected the same way.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The ocean, in these times, is a perfect fleet of ships; and we can hardly fail to encounter many, in running over.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Yet I cannot but believe for I have never yet caught him in a lie, while he has a cyclopædic knowledge of sealing and the men of the sealing fleets.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Next month, once Venus enters Pisces, from January 13 to February 7, 2020, you will again be surrounded by Cupid’s little fleet of angels, and each one will sprinkle you with pixie dust.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)