fledge

verb

ˈflej 

fledged; fledging

intransitive verb

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

fledge an arrow

Examples of fledge in a Sentence

The young birds haven't yet fledged.

Recent Examples on the Web

The male fledged from Gary, Ind., and this is his second year paired with this female. —Kristi Miller, Twin Cities, 1 Apr. 2025

Equally concerning was the high concentrations of pesticides in each nest – even months after breeding season had ended and the surviving chicks had fledged. —Grrlscientist, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025

The fledging partnership between Oracle, SoftBank Corp. and OpenAI, co-founded by Elon Musk, envisions leveraging AI in part to improve health outcomes. —Stephanie Armour | Kff Health News, ABC News, 8 Mar. 2025

The ratings are in for the first week of Beyond the Gates, and so far so good for the fledging soap on CBS: the daytime drama that’s the first to premiere since Passions in 1999 grew to 2.28 million viewers in L+3, up 78 percent from The Talk last year. —Lynette Rice, Deadline, 6 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1566, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Rhymes for fledge

• dredge
• edge
• hedge
• ledge
• pledge
• sedge
• sledge
• wedge
• allege
• straightedge

Kids Definition

fledge

verb

ˈflej 

fledged; fledging

1

: to develop the feathers necessary for flying

also : to leave the nest after developing such feathers

2

: to provide with feathers

fledge an arrow