<B>fleet admiral,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the naval officer of the highest rank in the United States Navy, entitled to an insigne or flag bearing five stars. <DD><B> 2. </B>(British.) <B>=Admiral of the Fleet.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="fleetfooted">
<B>fleet-footed, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> running or able to run rapidly. <BR> <I>Ex. Fleet-footed outfielder Bruton ranges centerfield like a hawk (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fleetful">
<B>fleetful, </B>noun, pl. <B>-fuls.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>as many as would make a fleet. <BR> <I>Ex. a fleetful of ships.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>any large number. <BR> <I>Ex. The fleetfuls of foreign students who came to attend surprisingly advanced teaching ... (Stephen L. Gwynn).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fleeting">
<B>fleeting, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> passing swiftly; moving rapidly; soon gone. <BR> <I>Ex. a fleeting smile, the fleeting beauty of youth. Art is long and Time is fleeting (Longfellow).</I> (SYN) transitory, momentary, temporary. adv. <B>fleetingly.</B> noun <B>fleetingness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="fleetstreet">
<B>Fleet Street,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a very old street in London, now a center for many newspaper offices. <DD><B> 2. </B>(British.) newspapers generally; the press. </DL>
<A NAME="fleetstreeter">
<B>Fleet Streeter,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a London newspaperman or journalist. </DL>
<A NAME="fleettrain">
<B>fleet train,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the service or auxiliary ships that support the fighting ships of a country's navy. </DL>
<A NAME="fleishig">
<B>fleishig, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (in Jewish dietary law) restricted to meat or meat products. <BR> <I>Ex. a fleishig meal, fleishig dishes.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="flem">
<B>Flem.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Flemish. </DL>
<A NAME="fleming">
<B>Fleming, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person born or living in Flanders. <DD><B> 2. </B>a Belgian whose native language is Flemish. </DL>
<A NAME="flemingvalve">
<B>Fleming valve,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Electronics.) an early form of diode used to detect wireless telegraph messages. <BR> <I>Ex. This so-called Fleming valve later became an amplifier by the addition of Lee De Forest's grid (H. H. Skilling).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="flemish">
<B>flemish, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Nautical.) to coil (a rope) in a Flemish coil; flemish-coil. </DL>
<A NAME="flemish">
<B>Flemish, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with Flanders, its people, or their language. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the people of Flanders. <DD><B> 2. </B>their language, formerly one of the official languages of Belgium. Flemish is a form of Low German closely related to Dutch. </DL>
<A NAME="flemishbond">
<B>Flemish bond,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a bond in bricklaying, in which each course consists of alternate headers and stretchers, with the headers centered on the stretchers of the courses above and below. </DL>
<A NAME="flemishcoil">
<B>Flemish coil,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Nautical.) a coil of rope in which each turn is laid down flat on the deck, forming a sort of mat. </DL>
<A NAME="flemishcoil">
<B>flemish-coil, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to coil (a rope) in a Flemish coil. </DL>
<A NAME="flemishgiant">
<B>Flemish Giant,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of a breed of very large rabbits of Flemish origin, raised for meat and fur. </DL>
<A NAME="flemishknot">
<B>Flemish knot,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a form of knot much used by sailors, shaped like the figure 8. </DL>
<A NAME="flemishstitch">
<B>Flemish stitch,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a stitch used for the filling in of some kinds of point lace. </DL>
<A NAME="flense">
<B>flense, </B>transitive verb, <B>flensed,</B> <B>flensing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to strip blubber or skin from (a whale or seal). noun <B>flenser.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="flesh">
<B>flesh, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the soft substance of the body that covers the bones and is covered by skin. Flesh consists mostly of muscles and fat. <DD><B> 2. </B>meat; the tissue or muscles of animals, regarded as an article of food. <DD><B> 3. </B>fatness; plumpness. <BR> <I>Ex. He has lost flesh.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>the body, not the soul or spirit. <BR> <I>Ex. O! that this too too solid flesh would melt (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) the physical side of human nature, as distinguished from the spiritual or moral side. <BR> <I>Ex. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41).</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) the human race; mankind. <BR> <I>Ex. the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>(Figurative.) living creatures collectively. <BR> <I>Ex. All flesh must die.</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>(Figurative.) family or relatives by birth. <BR> <I>Ex. He is our brother and our flesh (Genesis 37:27).</I> <DD><B> 9. </B>the soft part of fruits or vegetables; the part of fruits that can be eaten. <BR> <I>Ex. The flesh of apples is white. The flesh of a pineapple has an exotic flavor.</I> <DD><B> 10. </B>a pinkish-white color with a little yellow. <DD><B> 11. </B>the surface of the body, especially with reference to color. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to feed (a hound or hawk) with flesh of the game killed, in order to excite his eagerness in the chase. <DD><B> 2. </B>to excite (to passion, bloodshed, or other action) by a foretaste. <BR> <I>Ex. to flesh raw soldiers.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to plunge (a weapon, etc.) into the flesh. <BR> <I>Ex. Impatient strait to flesh his virgin sword (Alexander Pope).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to harden (in wrongdoing); inure. <DD><B> 5. </B>to make fleshy; fatten. <DD><B> 6. </B>to remove flesh or tissue from (hides) before making leather. <DD><I>v.i. </I> (Informal.) to become fleshy. <BR><I>expr. <B>flesh out,</B> </I>to give body or substance to; fill or round out; complete. <BR> <I>Ex. I found him dictating speeches for his staff to flesh out (Harper's).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>in the flesh,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>living; alive. </I> <I>Ex. We all know in the flesh liberal Catholics and latitudinarian Protestants (John Morley).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>really present, not merely thought of; in person. <BR> <I>Ex. St. Paul ... did speak there of seeing Christ in the flesh (Daniel Defoe).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>press the flesh,</B> </I>(Especially U.S. Informal.) to shake hands. <BR> <I>Ex. [He] is a diffident public speaker who prefers to press the flesh with individual voters in a kind of Western one-on-one campaign (Time).</I> adj. <B>fleshless.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="fleshandblood">
<B>flesh and blood,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the body; the material of which man's physical frame is composed. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) an individual man or men; mankind. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) human nature with its emotions and infirmities. <BR><I>expr. <B>one's own flesh and blood,</B> </I>family or relatives by birth; a child or relative by birth. <BR> <I>Ex. Athanasius ... had not spared his own flesh and blood (Henry Milman).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fleshandblood">
<B>flesh-and-blood, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having actual human existence; real. <BR> <I>Ex. the lives of flesh-and-blood people (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fleshcolored">
<B>flesh-colored, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> pinkish-white with a tinge of yellow; of the color of a white person's skin. </DL>
<B>-fleshed,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (combining form.) having flesh. <BR> <I>Ex. Pink-fleshed = having pink flesh. Firm-fleshed = having firm flesh.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="flesher">
<B>flesher, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who fleshes hides. <DD><B> 2. </B>a knifelike tool used for fleshing. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Scottish.) a butcher. </DL>
<A NAME="fleshette">
<B>fleshette, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> one of a spray of darts exploded as an antipersonnel weapon. <BR> <I>Ex. The canister round ... exploded on impact and distributed 9800 "fleshettes," which look like little roofing nails with barbs on the end (Atlantic).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fleshflea">
<B>flesh flea,</B> <B>=chigoe.</B></DL>
<A NAME="fleshfly">
<B>flesh fly,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a fly whose larvae feed on decaying flesh, garbage, and other rot; blowfly. </DL>
<A NAME="fleshhook">
<B>fleshhook, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a hook for removing meat from a pot. <DD><B> 2. </B>a hook to hang meat on. </DL>
<A NAME="fleshing">
<B>fleshing, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the distribution of the flesh on an animal. <BR> <I>Ex. It had good fleshing and was a good butcher's beast (London Times).</I> <DL COMPACT><DD> See also <B>fleshings.</B> </DL>
</DL>
<A NAME="fleshingknife">
<B>fleshing knife,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a blunt-edged, convex knife with two handles, used in the making of leather to scrape the hair and loose flesh from the hides. </DL>
<A NAME="fleshings">
<B>fleshings, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>flesh-colored tights. <DD><B> 2. </B>flesh scraped from hides, used in making glue. </DL>
<A NAME="fleshliness">
<B>fleshliness, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the state of being fleshly. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) carnal appetites and passions. </DL>
<A NAME="fleshly">
<B>fleshly, </B>adjective, <B>-lier,</B> <B>-liest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of the flesh; bodily; corporeal. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) of man's physical nature; sensual. <BR> <I>Ex. pretty lyrics of fleshly love (Joseph Slater).</I> (SYN) carnal, lascivious. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) worldly. <DD><B> 4. </B>of or having to do with the material body; mortal; human. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Obsolete.) fat; plump. </DL>
<A NAME="fleshment">
<B>fleshment, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Obsolete.) the excitement resulting from a first success. </DL>
<A NAME="fleshpot">
<B>fleshpot, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a pot for cooking meat. <BR><I>expr. <B>fleshpots,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>good food and living; luxuries. </I> <I>Ex. He might have been a saint had he been able to forego the fleshpots.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative.) establishments where these are offered for sale. <BR> <I>Ex. I expect to hear the two ladies lamenting the fleshpots of Cavan Street (Jonathan Swift).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fleshprinting">
<B>flesh-printing, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an electronic tracing or recording of the protein patterns found in the flesh of fish, used to match any species of fish with its birth waters and thus help to chart its migrations and control or increase its population. </DL>
<A NAME="fleshworm">
<B>flesh worm,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a worm that burrows in and feeds on flesh, especially the larva of the flesh fly. </DL>
