4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Fleece  \Fleece\,  n.  [OE.  flees,  AS  fle['o]s;  akin  to  D.  flies, 
  vlies  .] 
  1.  The  entire  coat  of  wood  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}. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Fleece  \Fleece\,  v.  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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  fleece 
  n  1:  the  wool  of  a  sheep  or  similar  animal 
  2:  tanned  skin  of  a  sheep  with  the  fleece  left  on  used  for 
  clothing  [syn:  {sheepskin}] 
  3:  a  soft  bulky  deep-piled  fabric,  used  chiefly  for  clothing 
  4:  outer  coat  of  esp.  sheep  and  yaks  [syn:  {wool}] 
  v  1:  rip  off  ask  an  unreasonable  price  [syn:  {overcharge},  {soak}, 
  {surcharge},  {gazump},  {plume},  {pluck},  {rob},  {hook}] 
  [ant:  {undercharge}] 
  2:  shear  the  wool  from  "shear  sheep"  [syn:  {shear}] 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  Fleece 
  the  wool  of  a  sheep,  whether  shorn  off  or  still  attached  to  the 
  skin  (Deut.  18:4;  Job  31:20).  The  miracle  of  Gideon's  fleece 
  (Judg.  6:37-40)  consisted  in  the  dew  having  fallen  at  one  time 
  on  the  fleece  without  any  on  the  floor,  and  at  another  time  in 
  the  fleece  remaining  dry  while  the  ground  was  wet  with  dew. 
 

browse words by letter
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
or search   thesauri dictionary search words