Dictionary entry

Fleece

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Fleece (flēs), n. [OE. flees, AS. fleós; akin to D. flies, vlies.] 1. The entire coat of wool that covers a sheep or other similar animal; also, the quantity shorn from a sheep, or animal, at one time.

Who shore me

Like a tame wether, all my precious fleece. Milton.

2. Any soft woolly covering resembling a fleece.

3. (Manuf.) The fine web of cotton or wool removed by the doffing knife from the cylinder of a carding machine.

Fleece wool, wool shorn from the sheep. — Golden fleece. See under Golden.