Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Fleece

Fleece

(flēs)
,
Noun.
[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
.

Fleece

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Fleeced
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Fleecing
.]
1.
To deprive of a fleece, or natural covering of wool.
2.
To strip of money or other property unjustly, especially by trickery or fraud; to bring to straits by oppressions and exactions.
Whilst pope and prince shared the wool betwixt them, the people were finely
fleeced
.
Fuller.
3.
To spread over as with wool.
[R.]
Thomson.

Webster 1828 Edition


Fleece

FLEECE

,
Noun.
flees. [L. vellus, from vello, to pluck or tear off.]
The coat of wool shorn from a sheep at one time.

FLEECE

, v.t.
1.
To shear off a covering or growth of wool.
2.
To strip of money or property; to take from, by severe exactions, under color of law or justice, or pretext of necessity, or by virtue of authority. Arbitrary princes fleece their subjects; and clients complain that they are sometimes fleeced by their lawyers.
This word is rarely or never used for plundering in war by a licentious soldiery; but is properly used to express a stripping by contributions levied on a conquered people.
3.
To spread over as with wool; to make white.

Definition 2024


Fleece

Fleece

See also: fleece

German

Noun

Fleece n (genitive Fleeces, no plural)

  1. (textile) fleece

Declension

Derived terms

  • Fleecejacke

External links

fleece

fleece

See also: Fleece

English

Noun

fleece (countable and uncountable, plural fleeces)

  1. (uncountable) Hair or wool of a sheep or similar animal
  2. (uncountable) Insulating skin with the wool attached
  3. (countable) A textile similar to velvet, but with a longer pile that gives it a softness and a higher sheen.
  4. (countable) An insulating wooly jacket
  5. (roofing) Mat or felts composed of fibers, sometimes used as a membrane backer.
  6. Any soft woolly covering resembling a fleece.
  7. The fine web of cotton or wool removed by the doffing knife from the cylinder of a carding machine.

Translations

Verb

fleece (third-person singular simple present fleeces, present participle fleecing, simple past and past participle fleeced)

  1. to con or trick someone out of money
    There is a difference between bookmaking, an entirely respectable profession, and fleecing people, which isn’t.[1]
  2. to shear the fleece from an animal (such as a sheep)
    During spring shearing we have to fleece all the sheep in just a few days.

Translations

See also


Finnish

Etymology

Borrowing from English fleece.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈfliːsi/
  • IPA(key): /ˈfliːs/ (often in compound terms)

Noun

fleece

  1. Alternative spelling of fliisi

Declension

Inflection of fleece (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
nominative fleece fleecet
genitive fleecen fleecejen
partitive fleeceä fleecejä
illative fleeceen fleeceihin
singular plural
nominative fleece fleecet
accusative nom. fleece fleecet
gen. fleecen
genitive fleecen fleecejen
fleeceinrare
partitive fleeceä fleecejä
inessive fleecessä fleeceissä
elative fleecestä fleeceistä
illative fleeceen fleeceihin
adessive fleecellä fleeceillä
ablative fleeceltä fleeceiltä
allative fleecelle fleeceille
essive fleecenä fleeceinä
translative fleeceksi fleeceiksi
instructive fleecein
abessive fleecettä fleeceittä
comitative fleeceineen

Usage notes

  • As is the case with many loanwords, the inflection of this term is problematic. Kotus recommends "nalle" - category in writing, as shown above, but in speech the declension usually follows "risti" -category, see the declension table for fliisi.
  1. http://www.theguardian.com/global/2015/aug/02/betting-horses-gambling-bookmakers-accounts-closed