fleet 
Eaburrer [F.J, to fleet the creame potte. 
llolli/band's Treamrie. 
2. \iiut., to skim up fresh water from the sur- 
face of (the sea), ass practised at the mouth of 
the Rhone, of the Nile, etc. 
fleet 6 ! (net), a. [Appar. a particular use of 
fleet*, a., moving lightly.] Light; superficially 
fruitful ; thin ; not penetrating deep, as soil. 
Marl cope ground is a cold, stiff, wet clay, unless where 
it is very fleet for pasture. Mortimer, Husbandry. 
fleett (net), adv. [< fleets, .] l n a manner 
so as to affect only the surface ; superficially. 
Those lauds must be plowed fleet. Mortimer, Husbandry. 
fleet 7 (net), . A dialectal (Scotch) variant of 
flute*. 
The tiddle and flfrt play'd ne'er sae sweet. 
Giiiht's Lady (Child's Ballads, VIII. 290). 
fleet-dike (flet'dlk), n. [< fleets + dike.] A 
dike for preventing inundation, as along the 
banks of rivers, etc. 
fleeten-facet, . One whose face is very pale ; 
a whey-face ; hence, a coward. 
Onog. Hold you your prating. 
Con. You know where you are, you fleeten-facc. 
Fletcher (and another), Queen of Corinth, iii. 1. 
fleet-foot, fleet-footed (flet'fut, -fut'ed), a. r< 
fleet* + foot.} Swift of foot; running or able 
to run with rapidity. 
Like a wild bird being tamed with too much handling, 
Or as the fleet-foot roe that's tired with chasing. 
Shak., Venus and Adonis, 1. 561. 
fleeting (fle'ting), p. a. [Ppr. of fleet*-, .] 
Passing rapidly; hastening away; transient; 
not durable : as, the fleeting hours or moments. 
I will not buy a false and fleeting delight so dear. 
B. Joiison, Love Restored. 
Of such a variable a.n& fleeting conscience what hold can 
be tak'n? Milton, Eikonoklastes, ii. 
Some fleeting good that mocks me with the view. 
Goldsmith, Traveller, 1. 26. 
= Syn. Transitonf, etc. See transient. 
fleetingly (fle'ting-li), adv. In a fleeting man- 
ner. 
fleetingness (fle'ting-nes), n. The character 
of being fleeting ; transientness ; evanescence. 
Morbid, too, were his sense of the fleetingness of life and 
his concern for death. 
R. L. Stevenson, Contemporary Rev., LI. 792. 
fleetly (flet'li), adv. l< fleet* + -ly*.] In a 
fleet manner ; rapidly ; swiftly. 
So fleetly did she stir, 
The flower she touch'd on dipt and rose, 
And turn'd to look at her. 
Tennyson, Talking Oak. 
fleet-milk (flet'milk),n. [< fleefi + milk.'] Skim- 
med milk. [Prov. Eng.] 
fleetness (flet'nes), . [(fleet* + -ness.'] The 
quality of being fleet; swiftness; rapidity in 
motion; speed. 
But fame, unrivall'd in the dusty course, 
In fleetness far outstrips the vig'rous horse. 
W. L. Lewis, tr. of Statius's Thebaid, v. 
Tasting the raptured fleetness 
Of her [Truth's] divine completeness. 
Lowell, Comm. Ode. 
= Syn. Swiftness, Speed, etc. See quickness. 
fleflecnodal (fle-nek'no-dal), a. [< fleflecnode + 
-al.] Pertaining to or having a fleflecnode. 
Fleflecnodal plane, a tangent plane to a surface, cut* 
ting the latter in a section having a fleflecnode at the 
point of tangency. 
fleflecnode (fle-flek'nod), n. [<,fle(cnode) + flec- 
node.~\ A biflecnode; a node of a plane curve 
where both branches have inflections. 
fleg 1 (fleg), r. Same as flay 2 . 
fleg 1 (fleg), n. Same 
"In faith," quo Johnie, "I got sicflegs 
WT their claymores and filabegs, 
If I face them [again], deil break my legs." 
Johnit Cope (Child's Ballads, VII. 275). 
She's gien me niony a jirt an' fleg 
Sin' I could striddle ower a rig. 
Burns, 2d Epistle to John Lapraik. 
fleg 2 (fleg), n. A dialectal variant offly z . 
flegm, flegmatic, etc. See phlegm, etc. 
flegmeH, . A corrupt obsolete form of fleam* . 
flegme' 2 !, See fleam?, phlegm. 
fleich, r. t. See fleech. 
Height. An obsolete preterit of fly*. Chaucer. 
flem 1 , n. See fleam*. 
flem'-t, . See fleanft, phlegm. 
flemeH, v. t. See fleem. 
fleme 2 t, . See /earns. 
flement, [Origin unknown.] 1. A tumor of 
the ankles. 2. Chaps of the feet and hands. 
flemens-firtht (fle'menz-ferth), n. [A corrupt 
pseudo-archaic form, repr. the old Law L. form, 
flementifertli, of AS. flyman fyrmth or flymena 
fi/nn tli, the harboring of a fugitive or fugitives : 
flyman, gen., flymena, gen. ]>!., of flyma, fliema, 
2265 
flema, a fugitive (see fleem) ; fyrmth, with equi v. 
feorm, harboring, entertainment: see farm*.] 
1 . In old Eng. law, the offense of harboring a 
fugitive, the penalty attached to which was 
one of the rights of the crown. 2. An asylum 
for outlaws. 
And ill beseems your rank and birth 
To make your towers &flrinettx-Jirth; 
We claim from thee William of Deloraine 
That he may suffer march-treason pain. 
Scott, L. of L. M., iv. 21. 
Fleming (flem'iug), ,. [< ME. Flemmynge, < 
OD. Vlaemingh, D. Flem. Flaming = MLG. 
Vlamink = OHG. Flaming, G. Flaming (whence 
ML. Flamingus, Pg. Flamengo, Sp. Flamenco, 
F. Flamand); connected with OD. Vlaendere, 
D. Vlaanderen, Flem. Vlaenderen, MLG. Vlan- 
der, G. Dan. Sw. Flandern (ML. Flandria, 
Flandrica, Pg. Flandres, Sp. Flandes, F. Flan- 
dre), Flanders.] A native of Flanders, an an- 
cient countship now divided between Belgium, 
France, and the Netherlands; specifically, a 
member of the Flemish race, nearly allied to 
the Dutch both in blood and in language. 
I will rather trust a Fleming with my butter . . . than 
my wife with herself. Shak., M. W. of W., ii. 2. 
Flemish (flem'ish), a. and n. [< ME. Flemmish, 
< OD. Flaemsch, D. Flaamsch, Flem. Vlaemseh 
= OFries. Flemsche, Flaemsche = MLG. Vlam- 
ish, Flamesh = Dan. Flamsk; as Flem-ing + 
-ish*.~\ I. a. Pertaining or native to Flanders, 
or pertaining to its people or their language ; 
resembling the Flemings. 
What an unweighed behaviour hath this Flemish drun- 
kard (Sir John Falstaff] picked . . . out of my conversa- 
tion 1 Shak., M. W. of W., II. 1. 
Flemish bond, brick, coll, eye, horse, etc. See the 
nouns. Flemish diamonds, in lace-making, lozenge- 
shaped groups of holes in the fillings of Houiton and other 
lace : a phrase applied to the pattern containing them, 
and also to the stitch producing them. Flemish point- 
lace. See lace. Flemish pottery, pottery made in 
those districts which were included in ancient Flanders, as 
Lille and Valenciennes. Flemish school, the school of 
painting formed in Flanders by the brothers Van Eyck at 
the commencement of the fifteenth century. The chief 
early masters were Memling, Weyden, Matsys, Mabuse, 
and Moro. Of those of the second period, Rubens and 
Vandyck, Snyders, Jordaens, Caspar de Crayer, and the 
younger Teniers take the highest place. Flemish stitch, 
a stitch used for the filling in of some kinds of point-lace. 
Compare Flemish diamonds. 
II. . 1. Collectively, the people of Flanders; 
the Flemings. 2. The language spoken by the 
Flemings. The Flemish language is a form of that Low 
German of which the Dutch is the type. The chief exter- 
nal difference between Dutch and Flemish is in the spell- 
ing, the spelling of Dutch having been reformed and sim- 
plified in the present century, while Flemish retains in 
great part the archaic features of sixteenth-century spell- 
ing. 
Flemish (flem'ish),r.f. [< Flemish, a. ,] To coil, 
as a rope, in a Flemish coil. See coil 1 , n. 
flent, A Middle English plural of flea*. 
Chaucer. 
flench (flench), v. t. Same as flense. 
flense (flens), v. t. ; pret. and pp. flensed, ppr. 
flensing. [Sc. also written flench and flinch; 
= D. vlensen, vlenzen = G. flensen, < Dan. flense 
= Sw. flansa, flense = Norw. flinsa, also flutuia, 
slash, cut up.] To cut up and remove the blub- 
ber of (a whale). Among American whalers 
the process is more commonly called cutting in. 
You . . . suppose you may cheat a stranger as you would 
flinch a whale. Scott, Pirate, ii. 
flerdt, n. [ME., also flora, < AS. fleard, de- 
ceit, folly or superstition, ge-fleard, nonsense (> 
fleardian, talk nonsense, be deluded), = ODan. 
flerdh, flour, falsehood, deceit, = Sw. flard, 
deceit, artifice, vanity, frivolousness, = Icel. 
flwrdh, deceit, falsehood. Cf. flird*, flird?.*, 
Deceit; falsehood. 
Crist forwerrpethth fals and flcerd. Onnulum, 1. 7334. 
So was Herodes fox and flerd, 
Tho Crist kam into this middelerd. 
Bestiary, 1. 452. 
flerkt, v. and . See flirk. 
flest, fleset, n. Middle English spellings of fleece. 
flesh (flesh), n. and a. [Early mod. E. also 
fleash; < ME. flesh, fleisch, flesc, flech, etc., 
often with final s, fles, flehs, flew, etc., < AS. 
flaisc (rarely flosc, in glosses, > E. dial, fleck) 
= OFries. flesk, flask *= OS. flesc = D. vleexclt = 
MLG. vlesch, LG. fleesch = OHG. fleisk, MHG. 
vleiseh, G. fleisch, flesh. The Scand. forms have 
a special sense : Icel. flesk = Sw. flask = Dan. 
flesk, pork, bacon (the general word for ' flesh' 
being Icel. kjot = Sw. kott = Dan. kiod) ; so E. 
meat, orig. 'food,' now 'flesh food,' tends in 
some localities to a special sense, 'beef or 
'pork,' as the case may be. Connections un- 
known. The Goth, words for 'flesh' were leik 
flesh 
(lit. body: see like*), mini:.] I. n. 1. A sub- 
stance forming a large part of an animal body, 
consisting of the softer solids which constitute 
muscle ami fat, as distinguished from the bones, 
the skin, the membranes, and the fluids ; in the 
most restricted sense, muscular tissue alone. 
Fl--h or muscle is composed chietly of libriii, with alhu- 
im-ii. gelatin, hematosin, fat, phosphate of sodium, phos- 
phate of potassium, phosphate and carbonate of calcium, 
sulphate of potassium, and rhlorid of sodium. The solid 
part is, besides, permeated by an acid fluid, called fleth- 
juice. This has a red color, and contains dissolved a num- 
ber of both organic and inorganic substances. The organic 
matter consists of albumen, casein, creatine, and creati- 
nine, and inosic and several other acids ; the inorganic, of 
alkaline sulphates, chlorids, and phosphates, with lime, 
iron, and magnesia. 
But/!esA iaflessh and skyn to skyn is doo. 
Palladius, Husbolldrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 104. 
A spirit hath notyfcgA and bones, as ye see me have. 
Luke xxiv. 39. 
My beauty as the spring doth yearly grow, 
Myjlesh is soft and plump. 
Shak. , Venus and Adonis, 1. 142. 
2. Animal food, in distinction from vegetable ; 
in the most restricted sense, the substance of 
beasts and fowls used as food, as distinguished 
from fish. 
Ill the Lond of Palestyne and In the Lond of Egypt the! 
eten but lytille or noil of Flessche of Veel or of Beef, but 
he be so old that he may no more travayle for elde ; for 
it is forbade. Mandeville, Travels, p. 72. 
Eten children and men, and eten non other fleische from 
that tyme that the! ben acharned with mannes fleisch. 
Quoted in William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), Notes, p. xxix. 
In the week are five days accustomably served with/A. 
Prim/ Council (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 304). 
3. The body, as distinguished from the soul ; 
the corporeal person. 
Almijty god, mercy I craue, 
Now lete my flesche my synnis able ! 
Hymns to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 99. 
The Apostle . . . knew right well that the weariness of 
the flesh is an heavy clog to the will. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, I. 7. 
As if this flesh, which walls about our life, 
Were brass impregnable. Shak., Rich. II., iii. 2. 
4. Man, or the human race ; mankind ; human- 
ity. 
Why will hereafter anie flesh delight 
In earthlie blis, and joy in pleasures vaine? 
Spenser, Ruins of Time, 1. 527. 
All flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 
Gen. vi. 12. 
She was fairest of all flesh on earth, 
Guinevere. Tennyson, Coming of Arthur. 
5. Man's animal or physical nature, as distin- 
guished from or opposed to his moral or spirit- 
ual nature ; the body as the seat of appetite : 
a Biblical use : as, to mortify the flesh. 
Ye judge after the fleth. John viii. 15. 
The flesh lusteth against the Spirit. Gal. v. 17. 
Grant that he [this child] may have power and strength 
to have victory and to triumph, against the devil, the 
world, and the flesh. 
Book of Common Prayer, Public Baptism of Infants. 
Satan is their guide, the flesh is their instructor. 
Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 632. 
Are there none in whom the spirit has conquered the 
flesh) Channing, Perfect Life, p. 115. 
6. Kindred; stock; family; near relative or 
relatives. [Archaic.] 
He is our brother and our flesh. Gen. xxxvil. 27. 
7. In bot., the soft cellular or pulpy substance 
of a fruit or vegetable, as distinguished from 
the kernel or core, skin, shell, etc. -An arm of 
flesh, in Scrip., human strength or aid. 
With him (the king of Assyria] is an arm of flesh ; but 
with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our 
battles. 2 Chron. xxxii. 8. 
Black In the flesh. See black. Flesh and blood. 
See blood. Proud flesh, a protuberance formed by the 
overgrowth of the granulations of a wound in process of 
repair. To be In flesh, to be fat. 
Buy food, and get thyself in flesh. Shak., R. and J., v. 1. 
To be In the flesh, (a) To lie alive. (6) In Scrip., to 
be under the control of the animal nature : opposed to 
spiritual. 
When we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which 
were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth 
fruit unto death. Rom. vii. 5. 
To be neither fish, flesh, nor fowl. See fisht . To be 
one flesh, to be closely united, as in marriage. 
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, 
and shall cleave unto his wife : and they shall be one flesh. 
Gen. ii. 24. 
H. a. Consisting of animal substance not 
fish : as, a flesh diet. 
flesh (flesh), v. t. [< flesh, n. In the fig. use 
corrupted to flush. : see flush*.] 1. To feed full 
with flesh, and hence with fleshly enjoyments, 
spoil, etc. 
The kindred of him hath Iteen flesh'd upon us. 
Shak., Hen. V., II. 4. 
