Crossword clues for fleeting
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
fleet \fleet\ (fl[=e]t), v. i. [imp. & p. p. fleeted; p. pr. & vb. n. fleeting.] [OE. fleten, fleoten, to swim, AS. fle['o]tan to swim, float; akin to D. vlieten to flow, OS. fliotan, OHG. fliozzan, G. fliessen, Icel. flj[=o]ta to float, flow, Sw. flyta, D. flyde, L. pluere to rain, Gr. plei^n to sail, swim, float, Skr. plu to swim, sail.
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To sail; to float. [Obs.]
And in frail wood on Adrian Gulf doth fleet.
--Spenser. -
To fly swiftly; to pass over quickly; to hasten; to flit as a light substance.
All the unaccomplished works of Nature's hand, . . . Dissolved on earth, fleet hither.
--Milton. (Naut.) To slip on the whelps or the barrel of a capstan or windlass; -- said of a cable or hawser.
(Naut.) To move or change in position; -- said of persons; as, the crew fleeted aft.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
early 13c., "fickle, shifting, unstable," from Old English fleotende "floating, drifting," later "flying, moving swiftly," from present participle of fleotan "to float, drift, flow" (see fleet (v.)). Meaning "existing only briefly" is from 1560s. Related: Fleetingly.
Wiktionary
Passing quickly. v
(present participle of fleet English)
WordNet
adj. lasting for a markedly brief time; "a fleeting glance"; "fugitive hours"; "rapid momentaneous association of things that meet and pass"; "a momentary glimpse" [syn: fugitive, momentaneous, momentary]
Usage examples of "fleeting".
Everything Alec had learned of the friendship between these two seemed to come together and spin itself into a long history in which he had only the most fleeting foothold.
A fleeting glance over her shoulder confirmed that her injured duelist had indeed vanished into the night, just as magically as he had appeared at her side in the Octagon room.
His clumsy earnesty in the garden had lent her fleeting hope that he might be different than any other insufferable cad.
It took Rennell a few seconds to grasp it, his grip as lifeless as his fleeting look at Carlo.
His fleeting smile suggested weary tolerance of a question which, while both gratuitous and stupid, managed to evoke pain.
It failed, and the two hundred-plus gravities of acceleration from her still-active after impeller ring killed every man and woman aboard her in the fleeting seconds before it broke her back.
Michael Oversteegen felt a fleeting glow of admiration for his opponent.
Alliance LACs were killed in the fleeting moments Smirnoff had to engage them, but at a price.
Even when a fleeting edge of surprise could be seized, attacking ships emerging one by one from a warp point into concentrated defensive firepower were at such a disadvantage that military historians could only compare them to infantrymen advancing across an open field of Flemish mud against machine-gun emplacements.
Lady knew this, and set the greater store by thy youth and goodliness, as a richer and more glorious gift than it had been, were it as fleeting as such things mostly be.
When Wing Goy turned back to the doorway, he was too late to see the fleeting shape, but his almond eyes became suddenly fixed in gaze.
I enjoyed heartily the pleasure of the good Fleeting, when she found herself in possession of the thousand gold pieces which she had received.
This was my chief aim, everything else was only fleeting enjoyment, and as I had not had a love affair since I parted with Zaira, I hoped most fervently that the present adventure would prove to be one.
Rome, the Hassassin enjoyed a fleeting moment of repose in a comfortable chair.
Cambridge friend, then a gradual losing sight of Sebastian, except for fleeting glimpses in passing mirrors, until the book ends in darkness, a nightmarishly slow sprint toward the dying Sebastian, the awful inaccessibility of the dead.