Definition of FLEET

Choose the Right Synonym for fleet

Adjective

fast, rapid, swift, fleet, quick, speedy, hasty, expeditious mean moving, proceeding, or acting with celerity. fast and rapid are very close in meaning, but fast applies particularly to the thing that moves fast horses and rapid to the movement itself. rapid current swift suggests great rapidity coupled with ease of movement. returned the ball with one swift stroke fleet adds the implication of lightness and nimbleness. fleet runners quick suggests promptness and the taking of little time. a quick wit speedy implies quickness of successful accomplishment speedy delivery of mail and may also suggest unusual velocity. hasty suggests hurry and precipitousness and often connotes carelessness. a hasty inspection expeditious suggests efficiency together with rapidity of accomplishment. the expeditious handling of an order

Examples of fleet in a Sentence

Noun

He was the commander of the Pacific fleet. The company has a large fleet of delivery trucks.

Adjective

a jewel thief said to be light of heart and fleet of foot

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Most high-school relationships are fleeting, burning bright for a few months before fizzling to their anti-climactic death. — Chloe Metzger, Marie Claire, "The Item I Wear to Death: My White Slip-On Keds," 3 Oct. 2018 Sidewalk chalk, like time or the availability of your fave Netflix series, is fleeting. — Marielle Wakim, Los Angeles Magazine, "The 5 Best Things to Do in L.A. This Weekend," 14 June 2018 Unfortunately, those moments are fleeting on Testing. — Andreas Hale, Billboard, "5 Things We Learned After Our First Listen to A$AP Rocky's 'Testing' Album," 25 May 2018 Even three years later, in the area where his truck was recovered, phone service is fleeting. — Jason Pohl, azcentral, "From missing to legally dead: The search for Sheriff's Office posse member Sam Grider," 12 Jan. 2018 Now that the operational testing phase has begun, StormBreakers should be arming the USAF fighters fleet in the near term. — Allison Barrie, Fox News, "StormBreaker: Powerful bomb penetrates bad weather, spells bad news for bad guys," 27 July 2018 Gracie Lawrence New York City native Gracie Lawrence’s early work was done mostly for audiences that were either captive (her parents) or fleeting (her Broadway debut was in a short-lived 2009 production of Brighton Beach Memoirs). — The Editors, Town & Country, "Meet Gracie Lawrence, Actress and Half of a Sibling Pop Duo," 1 Aug. 2018 In many ways, Ferguson's move for Van Persie broke his tradition of building squads for an extended stay of dominance, rather than a temporary, fleeting one. — SI.com, "Why Manchester United's Potential Signing of Alexis Sanchez Is Not Beneficial in the Long Term," 16 Jan. 2018 Stardom in the music business is fleeting to put it kindly. — The Aegis, "Wishing on a star [Editorial]," 13 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Cruise, which has a San Francisco test fleet, launched an app in 2017 for its employees there to hail rides in self-driving cars with a safety driver behind the wheel. — Mike Colias, WSJ, "GM, DoorDash to Test Autonomous Food Deliveries," 4 Jan. 2019 Whiteman Air Force Base, home to America’s B-2 strategic bomber fleet, released a video showing one of its planes dropping not one but two Massive Ordnance Pentrator (MOP) bombs. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Watch a Stealth Bomber Drop Two of World’s Largest Conventional Bombs," 27 Dec. 2018 The British fleet lost 14 ships and 6,000 men in that engagement. — Caroline Hallemann, Town & Country, "Queen Elizabeth's Christmas Message Reflects on the Royal Family's 'Busy Year'," 25 Dec. 2018 Kiwi, the startup that makes and manages the one hundred-strong fleet of robots, issued a statement to say that the fire was quickly extinguished by a passerby before the city’s fire department arrived and doused the machine in foam. — Jon Porter, The Verge, "Delivery robot spontaneously bursts into flames in California," 17 Dec. 2018 That et cetera there at the end includes megacities, caravan fleets, more megastructures, and uh...slave labor. — Hayden Dingman, PCWorld, "This week in games: Alan Wake is back on sale after a 17 month absence, Layers of Fear 2 announced," 26 Oct. 2018 Because airlines are constantly updating their cabins and fleets, the figures listed below are subject to change. — Cynthia Drescher, Condé Nast Traveler, "These Airlines Have the Most Legroom," 17 Oct. 2018 Flex is to package delivery what Uber is to taxis: A fleet of contractors who obtain work through a massive company but are not technically considered employees of said company. — Gaby Del Valle, Vox, "Amazon is cutting costs with its own delivery service — but its drivers don’t receive benefits," 26 Dec. 2018 One day, a fleet of bees equipped with these sensors could help farmers monitor the health of their crops, and give biologists insights into how bees forage for food, find pollen and navigate through the environment. — Katherine Long, The Seattle Times, "Backpack-wearing bumblebees could buzz fields, tell farmers how crops are doing," 13 Dec. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

The mano-a-mano match race finals, in which one yacht might simply sail away from the other and on to victory, might not be as thrilling as fleet races, which have multiple boats jostling in tight quarters. — Luke O'brien, Town & Country, "Hot Pursuit," 1 Sep. 2013 As its fleet ages, RTA seeks federal money for new buses, paratransit vehicles The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority has lost out on a nearly $20 million federal grant to help boost its bus fleet, according to the agency's manager, Transdev. — Marie Simoneaux, NOLA.com, "S&WB says drainage system performed 'very well' Saturday, full assessment coming," 14 Apr. 2018 Several girls cross country teams from the area are in the running for regional and state championships but locals are chasing Northern Kentucky's fleetest afoot: St. Henry in Class A, Highlands in Class 2A and Class 3A's Simon Kenton. — Marc Hardin, Cincinnati.com, "St. Henry, Highlands, SK girls cross country the teams to chase in NKY," 25 Aug. 2017 While Onyewu and Elliott aren't the fleetest of foot, both are rarely out of position. — Marc Narducci, Philly.com, "Union's five-game unbeaten surge built on key position changes," 19 May 2017 Yokosuka is one of the most important military ports in the Pacific, home to both the U.S. 7th Fleet and the fleet headquarters of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Forces, Japan's navy. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Two U.S. Aircraft Carriers Are Now Prowling the Pacific," 17 May 2017 Steve Kudla is probably known as the fleetest flavorist around McCormick and Company after his performance in a 5K race last Saturday. — Bill Blewett, The Aegis, "Steve Kudla loves running and Old Bay," 25 May 2017 In fast and fleet fashion, Pohjonen zipped through the outer movements, producing a good deal of color and subtly underlining the score's jazz elements. — Tim Smith, baltimoresun.com, "Atmosphere, virtuosity in BSO program with Markus Stenz, Juho Pohjonen," 5 May 2017

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