fleet4 (flet)

[ME. not found; the AS. " fleótig, 'swift, fleet,' is an uncertain emendation of a doubtful word in a poetical riddle; ef. Icel. fljötr, swift, fleet (of a ship, a horse, etc.); from the verb fleet1.] Swift of motion; moving or able to move with rapidity; rapid. The horse goung Waters rade upon Was fleeter than the wind. Young Waters (Child's Ballads, III. 89). He had in his stables one of the fleetest horses in Eng- land. Clarendon, Great Rebellion. Thy step-the wild deer's rustling feet Within thy woods are not more fleet . Bryant , Oh, Mother of a Mighty Race, fleets (flēt), v. t. [ fleten , skim (milk, etc.) (=MLG. vloten , LG. af - flöten , af - flaten = Dan. af - flöde ( af = E. off ), skim (milk)), flete , fliéte , flyte , rarely flet , cream, skimmings, curds, = Dan. flöde , cream, = MLG. viöt , LG. flot = G. flott , cream, fat or grease floating on the top, lit. that which floats, fleótan , E. fleet1 , etc., float: see fleet1 .] 1. To skim, as cream from milk. exquacco. Fletyn , or skomyn ale, or pott is, or other lycours that hovythe, despumo, exspumo, Flete mylke only, dequacco, Prompt . Parr., p. 167. I flete mylke, I take awa ye the creame that lyeth above it, whan it hath rested, Palsgrave . IMG:content-1482.png:[blocks in formation] flēma , a fugitive (see fleem ); fyrmth , with equiv. feorm , harboring, entertainment: see farm1 .] 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 a flemens - firth ; We claim from thee William of Deloraine That he may suffer march-treason pain. Fleming (flem'ing), n . [ Flemmynge , Vlaming = MLG. Flamink = OHG. Flaming , G. Fläming (whence ML. Flaming us , Pg. Flamen go , Sp. Flamenco , F. Flam and ); 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. my wife with herself. My beauty as the spring doth yearly grow, My flesh 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. Flemish (flem'ish), a. and n. [ Vlaemsch , D. Vlaamsch , Flem. Vlaemsch = OFries. Flemsche , Flaemsche = MLG. Vlam- ish, Vlamesh = Dan. Flamsk ; as Flem - ing + -ish1.] I. a . Pertaining or native to Flanders, or pertaining to its people or their language; Quoted in William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), Notes, p. xxix. resembling the Flemings. Of such a variable and fleeting conscience what hold can be tak'n? Milton , Eikon ok las tes, ii. Some fleeting good that mocks me with the view. Goldsmith , Traveller, 1. 26. =Syn. Transitory, etc. See transient . fleetingly (flē'ting-li), adv . In a fleeting man- IMG:content-1483.png:[blocks in formation] fleetne (flet'nes), n. [ But fame, unrivall'd in the dusty course, In fleetne far outstrips the vig'rous horse. Of her [Truth's] divine completene . Lowell, Comm. Ode. In the week are five days accustom ably served with flesh . Privy Council (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 304). 3. The body, as distinguished from the soul; the corporeal person. Almizty god, mercy I craue, Now lete my flesche my synnis abie! Flemish bond, brick, coil, eye, horse, etc. See the nouns. Flemish diamonds, in lace - making , lozenge. shaped groups of holes in the fillings of Honiton 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 ity. Vandyck, Snyders, Jordaens, Gaspar 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. n. 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), v. t . [ Flemish , a.] To coil, as a rope, in a Flemish coil. See coill, n. flent, n. A Middle English plural of fleal, Chaucer. flench (flench), v . t. Same as flense. filense (flens), v . t .; pret. and pp. flensed , ppr. flensing. [Sc. also written flench and flinch ; = D. vlensen , vlenzen = G. flensen , flänsa , flense = Norw. flinsa , also flunsa , slash, cut up.] To cut up and remove the blub- ber of (a whale). Among American whalers the proce is more commonly called outting in. You... suppose you may cheat a stranger as you would flinch a whale. Scott , Pirate, ii. flerdt, n. [ME., also flærd , fleard , de- ceit, folly or superstition, ge - fleard , nonsense (> fleardian , talk nonsense, be deluded), = ODan. flerdh, flær, falsehood, deceit, = Sw. flärd, deceit, artifice, vanity, frivolousne , = Icel. flærdh, deceit, falsehood. Cf. flird1 , flird2.] Crist forwerrpethth fals and flærd. Ormulum , 1. 7334. So was Herodes fox and flerd , flest, fleset, n. Middle English spellings of fleece . flesh (flesh), n. and a. [Early mod. E. also fleash ; flesh , fleisch, flesc, flech, etc., flæse (rarely flæc , in glo es, > E. dial. fleck ) = OFries. flesk , fläsk = OS. flēsc = D. vleesch = MLG. vlēsch , LG. fleesch = OHG. fleisk , MHG. vleisch , G. fleisch , flesh. The Scand. forms have a special sense: Icel. flesk = Sw. fläsk = Dan. flesk , pork, bacon (the general word for 'flesh' being Icel. kjöt = Sw. kött = Dan. kjöd ); 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 As if this flesh , which walls about our life, Were bra impregnable. Why will hereafter anie flesh delight In earth lie blis, and joy in pleasures vaine? Spenser, Ruins of Time, 1. 527. Gen. vi. 12. She was fairest of all flesh on earth, Guinevere. Tennyson, Coming of Arthur. 5. Man's animal or physical nature, as dist in- 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 . IMG:content-1484.png:[blocks in formation] II. a . Consisting of animal substance not fish: as, a flesh diet. flesh (flesh), r. t. [ flush : see flush4 .] 1. To feed full with flesh, and hence with fleshly enjoyments, spoil, etc. The kindred of him hath been flesh'd upon us. Shak., Hen. V., ii. 4. They plead that God in the Law would have nothing 3. Animal; not vegetable. brought into the temple, neither besoms nor flesh hooks , nor trumpets, but those only which were sanctified. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, v. 20. IMG:content-1485.png:[blocks in formation] To breed a mongrel up, in his own house, With his own blood, and, if the good gods please, At his own throat flesh him to take a leap. B. Jonson, Sejanus, iv. 5. Fleshed at these smaller sports, like young wolves, they grew up in time to be nimble and strong enough for hunt Stale of Tubt ing down large game. 3. In leather - manuf., to remove flesh, fat, and loose membrane from the flesh side of, as skins and hides. One man can, it is claimed, flesh or slate about six hundred goat skins per day of ten hours. C. T. Davis, Leather, p. 333. The hides will be very difficult to flesh , unle previously plumped by a light liming. Workshop Receipts , 2d ser., p. 370. 4. To clothe with flesh; make fleshy. Never are wee without two or three [deer] in the roof, Very well fleshed , and excellent fat. King and Miller of Mans field (Child's Ballads, VIII. 37). Flesh me with gold, fat me with silver. Middle ton, Spanish Gypsy, iv. 3. This bare sceleton of time, place, and person must be fleshed with some pleasant pa ages. Fuller , Worthies, i. flesh-ax (flesh'aks), n. A butchers' cleaver. Wright. flesh-broth (flesh'broth), п. Broth made by boiling flesh in water. 2266 which have hatched in the ovidnet, on animal matter (usually dead), and the larvæ or maggots quickly grow to full size, the round of life being very rapid. They crawl away to pupate, preferably under ground. S. sarracenia (Riley) is a variety of S. carnaria (Linnæus), a cosmopolitan species and general scavenger. The larva of this variety feeds on the dead insects caught in the leaves of pitcher plants. I am, in my condition, A prince,... and would no more endure This wooden slavery, than to suffer The flesh- fly blow my mouth. Shak., Tempest, iii. 1. Blue flesh-fly. Same as bluebottle, 2. flesh-fork (flesh'fôrk), n. A fork for trying meat and taking it from a boiler in cooking. [Rare.]