fledge

verb \ ˈflej \

Updated on: 28 Apr 2018

Definition of fledge

fledged; fledging

of a young bird : to acquire the feathers necessary for flight or independent activity; also : to leave the nest after acquiring such feathers

transitive verb

1 : to rear until ready for flight or independent activity

2 : to cover with or as if with feathers or down

3 : to furnish (something) with feathers

feather an arrow

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Examples of fledge in a Sentence

The young birds haven't yet fledged.

Recent Examples of fledge from the Web

There have been four different adult eagles during that time, and typically one or two eaglets fledged per year.

— james f. mccarty, cleveland.com, "Ohio bald eagle duel ends in death of mother, chick as birders watch in horror," 23 Apr. 2018
While not all are likely to pan out, at least a few will likely expand into full-fledged industries.

— avery thompson, Popular Mechanics, "What Is Carbon Capture?," 13 Apr. 2018
Grillo never ran for parliament but helped turn the movement into a fully-fledged party.

— jaimy jones, Houston Chronicle, "Candidate for city council wants 'a seat at the table' for federal flood money," 9 Apr. 2018
In the House, Mr. Casey was a member of the Young Turks, a group of fledging lawmakers who were determined to reform the Legislature.

— john pope, NOLA.com, "Tom Casey, a 'Young Turk' in the Louisiana Legislature, dies at 86," 3 Apr. 2018
If fully feathered but unable to fly, the bird is a fledging that should be left alone to learn critical survival behaviors.

— guest columnist/cleveland.com, cleveland.com, "Does baby wildlife need our help?: Amy LeMonds," 25 Mar. 2018
But expanding the new embassy into a full-fledged complex that houses the bulk of America’s diplomatic staff in Israel would easily cost more than $500 million dollars, officials familiar with the process said.

— josh lederman, USA TODAY, "Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson offers to help pay for Jerusalem embassy: report," 23 Feb. 2018
Much like short-track speedskating, snowboarding wasn't even full-fledged a sport in the 1980s.

— barry svrluga, chicagotribune.com, "Olympic equation: U.S. snowboarding equals Dutch speedskating equals Norwegian cross-country," 13 Feb. 2018
Today, the two run Green Worx Landscaping—and have turned a common neighborhood business into a fully-fledged corporation.

— chris morris, Fortune, "Meet the High School Students Making Over $100,000 Mowing Lawns," 9 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fledge.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of fledge

fledge capable of flying, from Middle English flegge, from Old English -flycge; akin to Old High German flucki capable of flying, Old English flēogan to fly — more at fly

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1566

in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

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