1
: a number of warships under a single command
specifically : an organization of ships and aircraft under the command of a flag officer
2
: group sense 1
especially : a group (as of ships, planes, or trucks) operated under unified control
fleeted; fleeting; fleets
2
[fleet entry 2] : to fly swiftly
clouds fleeting across the sky
3
obsolete : drift
: to cause (time) to pass usually quickly or imperceptibly
… many young gentlemen … fleet the time carelessly …—
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
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
Ni Tao, Interesting Engineering, 20 Apr. 2026 Blue Origin is well behind SpaceX, which accounted for 82% of all commercial launches last year and has a thousands-strong fleet of Starlink internet satellites. —semafor.com, 20 Apr. 2026
Bloomberg, Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2026 The plan calls for up to 550 units, with steady monthly output to sustain fleet readiness. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 9 Apr. 2026
Serge Schmemann, Mercury News, 14 Apr. 2026 The dogged short-term downtrend means that even a quick 4% relief rally — which could come at any time on the strength of a social media post or fleeting downtick in energy prices — wouldn’t turn the tide convincingly. —Michael Santoli, CNBC, 30 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for fleet
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
At scale, fleets of 10,000 robots running continuously could push monthly operating costs into the hundreds of millions of yuan, depending on utilization and staffing. —Ni Tao, Interesting Engineering, 20 Apr. 2026 Blue Origin is well behind SpaceX, which accounted for 82% of all commercial launches last year and has a thousands-strong fleet of Starlink internet satellites. —semafor.com, 20 Apr. 2026
Adjective
Musk has indicated the company may look to boost fleet sales to commercial customers in response to questions about Cybertruck’s murky prospects. —Bloomberg, Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2026 The plan calls for up to 550 units, with steady monthly output to sustain fleet readiness. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 9 Apr. 2026
Verb
But more than a year into Trump’s return to the White House, the Europeans, and much of the world, have concluded that no amount of bowing or scraping will win more than fleeting approval from him. —Serge Schmemann, Mercury News, 14 Apr. 2026 The dogged short-term downtrend means that even a quick 4% relief rally — which could come at any time on the strength of a social media post or fleeting downtick in energy prices — wouldn’t turn the tide convincingly. —Michael Santoli, CNBC, 30 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for fleet
Cite this Entry
“Fleet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/dictionary/fleet. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
fleet
1 of 2 noun
1
: a group of warships under one command
2
: a group of ships or vehicles that move together or are under one management
a fleet of taxis
a fishing fleet
fleet
2 of 2 adjective
: very swift
fleet of foot
fleetly adverb
fleetness noun
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