Fleet (flēt), v. i. [imp. & p. p.Fleeted; p. pr. & vb. n.Fleeting.] [OE. fleten, fleoten, to swim, AS. fleótan to swim, float; akin to D. vlieten to flow, OS. fliotan, OHG. fliozzan, G. fliessen, Icel. fljōta to float, flow, Sw. flyta, D. flyde, L. pluere to rain, Gr. πλει̑ν to sail, swim, float, Skr. plu to swim, sail. √84. Cf. Fleet, n. & a., Float, Pluvial, Flow.] 1. To sail; to float.
And in frail wood on Adrian Gulf doth fleet. Spenser.
2. To fly swiftly; to pass over quickly; to hasten; to flit as a light substance.
All the unaccomplished works of Nature's hand,...
Dissolved on earth, fleet hither. Milton.
3. (Naut.) To slip on the whelps or the barrel of a capstan or windlass; — said of a cable or hawser.