fleet \fleet\ (fl[=e]t), v. i. [imp. & p. p. fleeted; p. pr. & vb. n. fleeting.]

[OE. fleten, fleoten, to swim, AS. fle['o]tan to swim, float; akin to D. vlieten to flow, OS. fliotan, OHG. fliozzan, G. fliessen, Icel. flj[=o]ta to float, flow, Sw. flyta, D. flyde, L. pluere to rain, Gr. plei^n to sail, swim, float, Skr. plu to swim, sail. [root]84. Cf. Fleet, n. & a., Float, Pluvial, Flow.]

1. To sail; to float. [Obs.]

[1913 Webster]

And in frail wood on Adrian Gulf doth fleet. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]

2. To fly swiftly; to pass over quickly; to hasten; to flit as a light substance. [1913 Webster]

All the unaccomplished works of Nature's hand, . . . Dissolved on earth, fleet hither. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

3. (Naut.) To slip on the whelps or the barrel of a capstan or windlass; -- said of a cable or hawser. [1913 Webster]

4. (Naut.) To move or change in position; -- said of persons; as, the crew fleeted aft. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

Fleeting \Fleet"ing\, a. Passing swiftly away; not durable; transient; transitory; as, the fleeting hours or moments.

Syn: Evanescent; ephemeral. See Transient. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

59 Moby Thesaurus words for "fleeting": abrupt, blunt, brief, brittle, brusque, capricious, changeable, compendious, corruptible, crusty, curt, deciduous, disappearing, dissolving, dying, ephemeral, evanescent, evaporating, fading, fickle, flitting, fly-by-night, flying, fragile, frail, fugacious, fugitive, gruff, impermanent, impetuous, impulsive, inconstant, insubstantial, laconic, melting, momentary, mortal, mutable, nondurable, nonpermanent, passing, perishable, short, short and sweet, short-lived, snippety, snippy, succinct, temporal, temporary, terse, transient, transitive, transitory, undurable, unenduring, unstable, vanishing, volatile

Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
 

fleeting adj : lasting for a markedly brief time; "a fleeting glance"; "fugitive hours"; "rapid momentaneous association of things that meet and pass"; "a momentary glimpse" [syn: fugitive, momentaneous, momentary]

Source: WordNet (r) 2.0
 

Fleet \Fleet\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fleeted; p. pr. & vb. n. Fleeting.]

[OE. fleten, fleoten, to swim, AS. fle['o]tan to swim, float; akin to D. vlieten to flow, OS. fliotan, OHG. fliozzan, G. fliessen, Icel. flj[=o]ta to float, flow, Sw. flyta, D. flyde, L. pluere to rain, Gr. ? to sail, swim, float, Skr. plu to swim, sail. [root]84. Cf. Fleet, n. & a., Float, Pluvial, Flow.]

1. To sail; to float. [Obs.]

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Fleeting \Fleet"ing\, a. Passing swiftly away; not durable; transient; transitory; as, the fleeting hours or moments.

Syn: Evanescent; ephemeral. See Transient.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)