The Collaborative International Dictionary
Fletch \Fletch\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fletched; p. pr. & vb. n.
Fletching.] [F. fl[`e]che arrow.]
To feather, as an arrow.
--Bp. Warburton.
[Congress] fletched their complaint, by adding:
``America loved his brother.''
--Bancroft.
Wiktionary
n. 1 attaching fins, such as halved-feathers to a projectile in order to stabilize its flight; 2 the fins or feathers so attached. vb. (present participle of fletch English)
Wikipedia
Fletching (also known as a flight or feather) is the aerodynamic stabilization of arrows or darts with materials such as feathers, each piece of which is referred to as a fletch. A fletcher is a person who attaches the fletching.
The word is related to the French word flèche, meaning "arrow", via Old French; the ultimate root is Frankish fliukka.
Usage examples of "fletching".
The master bowyer, a stern, grizzled man, was instructing an apprentice in the finer points of fletching as they came in.
Using the second bow, he repeated the feat easily, shaving some of the fletching off the first shaft.
Nocking a second arrow, Alec drew the fletching to his ear and tried again.
Finally he picked up the parchment scrap and the fletching, holding them in each hand as if to weigh one against the other.
Four short-shafted arrows with tan fletching were pegged, headfirst, into the ground in front of her.
The arrow blurred in the air, but Dwyrin could catch the fletching spinning as the shaft leapt toward him.
The second arrow slid into the face of another orc, burying itself to the fletching in an eye socket as the arrowhead crashed through the back of its skull.
He pulled the first one back smoothly, letting the fletching touch his ear as he lined up his shot.
She concentrated on each arrow as she leaned it with fletching upright against the stone wall.
Bailie the Red had an arrow in his cracked and callused bowhand and was stroking the fletching feathers, nodding almost continually.
Remove the head, and it means that the one whose pattern is in the fletching is dead.
Four thin blue bands marked the shaft a thumbs length above the fletching notch.
He knew the mark well and the gray fletching and black cock feather even better.
The half-elf was on his heels by the door, there being no place else to sit, fletching arrows with the absent skill of one who performs the chore as much to pass the time as to keep his weapons in good order.
The Irish boy took the bow and arrows from the man who held them, and the fletching of the arrows was rumpled and gapped like the feathers of a wet chicken.