▪ I. fleece, n.
(fliːs)
Forms: 1 fléos, fl{iacu}es, fl{yacu}s, 3 fleos, 4–6 flies, flyes, 4–6 flees, fles(e, (4 flus, 5 fleese, fleys, flesse, 6 fleise), 5–6 Sc. fleis(s, 6 flece, Sc. flesche, 7 fliece, Sc. fleesh, 6– fleece.
[Com. WGer. OE. fléos neut., corresponds to Du. vlies, MHG. vlies (Ger. fliesz, vliesz); there is also a form with umlaut, OE. fl{iacu}es, fl{yacu}s = MHG. vlius (Ger. fleusz, flüsz); the two types represent WGer. *fleusoz-, fliusiz-; an ablaut variant *flûso-z appears in MLG. and MHG. vlûs sheepskin, mod.Ger. flaus masc. woollen coat. Connexion with the root of L. plūma feather, plume, is probable.]
1. a. The woolly covering of a sheep or similar animal.
| a 1000 Laws Ina c. 69 Sceap sceal gongan mid his fliese oð midne sumor. c 1000 Ags. Ps. lxxii. 6 And [he] astaᵹ swe swe regn in fleos. a 1225 Ancr. R. 66 Monie cumeð to ou ischrud mid lombes fleose, & beoð wode wulues. a 1300 E.E. Psalter lxxii. 6 He sal com down als rain in flees soft. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xxx. 35 Al the flok of o colour, that is, of whyet or of blak flese. c 1450 Holland Howlat 753 Thow joyuss fleiss of Gedion. 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. iii. xxxvi, To win the fleis of gold. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 423 Cled in cair weid, As foxe in a lambis fleise fenȝe I my cheir. 1563 Winzet tr. Vincent. Lirin. xxxi. Wks. 1890 II. 65 Maid as certane fleisis of wow. 1637 T. Morton New Eng. Canaan ii. x. 98 These beasts are of the bignesse of a Cowe..their fleeces very usefull, being a kinde of wolle. 1725 Pope Odyss. i. 557 Stretch'd on the downy fleece, no rest he knows. 1804 J. Grahame Sabbath 456 Where lambs of whitest fleece sport on the hills. 1877 Simmonds Anim. Products 66 Its [the Alpaca's] fleece is superior to that of the sheep in length and softness. |
b. Her. The figure of a sheepskin with its wool suspended by a ring.
c. Order of the Golden Fleece: an order of knighthood instituted at Bruges in 1430 by Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy.
The right of investiture in the order of the Golden Fleece belonged (after 1700) to the sovereigns of Austria and Spain.
| 1525 Two Proph. Eng. in Furniv., Ballads from MSS. I. 306 A king to were a flemyshe flece, all Sacksons shall hyt Rewe. 1539 Inv. Habiliments, etc., Jas. V. Scot. (1815) 49 Item the ordoure of the Empriour with the goldin fleis. 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 213 The kyng ware the golden Flees, and the duke ware the Garter. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. vii. 69 Knight of the Noble Order of S. George, Worthy S. Michael, and the Golden Fleece. 1842 Longfellow Belfry Bruges 22 Knights who bore the Fleece of Gold. 1849 Disraeli Corr. w. Sister 11 Mar. (1886) 220 He [Guizot] had his red ribbon on and also his golden fleece. |
2. a. The quantity of wool shorn from a sheep at one time.
| c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. xii. (1885) 140 The ix{supt}{suph} fflese off thair wolles, and also the ix{supt}{suph} Shef off þer graynes. 1672 Petty Pol. Anat. (1691) 54 A Fleece of Wool in Ireland is about 2 l. weight. 1782 Burns Poor Mailie's Elegy vi, A bonier fleesh ne'er cross'd the clips. 1829 Scott Anne of G. vi, Thou shalt have a necklace of jet at next shearing-feast, if our fleeces bear any price in the market. 1868 Rogers Pol. Econ. xii. (1876) 11 The average weight of a fleece was not more than two pounds. |
† b. fig. A share of booty.
Obs. In
quot. 1703
fleece is apprehended as ‘act of fleecing’.
| 1601 Holland Livy vi. xv. (1609) 226 Thy selfe wouldest have a fliece with them [in parte prædæ sis]. 1603 Breton Packet Lett. ii. xxxix (Grosart) II. 43 When their wits goe a wool-gathering among shrewes that haue had fleeces. 1703 S. Centlivre Beau's Duel ii. ii, There's scarce a Match-maker in the whole Town, but has had a Fleece at his Purse. |
3. In various transferred uses.
† a. A coating periodically shed or removed.
| 1603 Owen Pembrokeshire (1891) 74 The stonne Marle..beinge cast on the lande, casteth yerely a ffleece of sande. |
b. A crop of vegetation; also
fig.| 1513 Douglas æneis xii. Prol. 80 So thik the plantis sprang in euery pece, The feyldis ferleis of thar fructuus flece. 1793 Trans. Soc. Encourag. Arts (ed. 2) V. 86 The land..will produce little else but a fleece of weeds. 1793 Ann. Agric., Suff. XIX. 214 There was a very fine fleece of marl grass. 1831 Scott Jrnl. 5 May, A fleece of letters, which must be answered, I suppose. 1855 Browning Two in Campagna v, The champaign with its endless fleece Of feathery grasses everywhere. |
c. A ‘head’ or mass of hair.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 175 b, Others [Bees] cary water with their mouths, and droppes in their little fleeses. 1600 S. Nicholson Acolastus E ij b, Witnesse this snow-white fleece vpon my head. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. lxviii, Ere beauties dead fleece made another gay. 1711 Lond. Gaz. No. 4841/4 Stolen..a Mare..with a white Fleece down the Face. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. i. v, The Aboriginal Savage, glaring fiercely from under his fleece of hair. 1859 Tennyson Vivien 839 The..many-winter'd fleece of throat and chin. 1865 Swinburne Poems & Ball., Faustine 3 Back to the shoulder with its fleece Of locks. |
d. Applied to anything resembling a sheep's fleece either in appearance or consistence; a white cloud, etc.; a quantity of falling snow, or of some light substance, as air, vapour, etc.
| 1671 R. Bohun Wind 40 Superincumbent Air; which I suppose to ly in severall fleeces or storys one above another. 1685 Goad Celest. Bodies i. ii. 4 Whenever it snows..the greater is the Fleece, the warmer is the Air. 1692 Bentley Boyle Lect. i. 7 Certain thin fleeces of Atoms, that flow incessantly from the surfaces of Bodies. 1715–20 Pope Iliad iii. 284 Soft as the fleeces of descending snows. 1728 ― Dunc. ii. 362 Till show'rs of Sermons, Characters, Essays, In circling fleeces whiten all the ways. 1746–7 Hervey Medit. (1818) 83 Abundance of ruddy streaks tinge the fleeces of the firmament. 1834 H. Miller Scenes & Leg. xi. (1857) 167 A deep fleece of vapour rose from the surface. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxix. (1856) 246 The mackerel fleeces and mare's tails of our summer skies. 1865 Masson Rec. Brit. Philos. iii. 229 Beads or fleeces of oily substance hung in some gauze-work. |
e. spec. The thin sheet of cotton or wool fibre that is taken from the breaking-card. Also, a textile fabric with a soft silky pile used for lining, etc.:
cf. fleece-lined in 6.
| 1853 Ure Dict. Arts I. 510 One [card], called a breaker, which turns off the cotton in a broad fleece of extreme thinness. 1878 I. Watts in Encycl. Brit. VI. 493 The cotton is taken from the doffer in a very light fleece by means of a vibrating comb. 1957 M. B. Picken Fashion Dict. 133/1 Fleece, heavy erect-pile coat fabric of all wool or wool and hair of llama, alpaca, camel, vicuna or cashmere goat. 1964 McCall's Sewing iv. 57/1 Fleece, a heavy-weight woollen with very long nap used for coats. It is inclined to be bulky, and may be difficult to sew. |
4. Used for a sheep, or
collect. sheep.
| 1798 Wolcott (P. Pind.) Tales of Hoy Wks. 1812 IV. 427 And all the tribe of fleeces follow. ? a 1800 Wowing of Jock & Jenny viii, in Pinkerton Sel. Scot. Ball. (1783) II. 73 Fyve hundirth fleis now in a flok. 1855 Browning Love among Ruins ix, All our many-tinkling fleece. |
5. U.S. The meat taken from the sides of the hump of the American bison.
| 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1844) II. liv. 181 The fleece (hump) of a fat cow, was the luxury of luxuries. 1891 Army & Navy Jrnl. (N.Y.) 5 Sept. 30/1 The fleece [of a buffalo] is the meat lying on each side of the hump ribs and resting on the outside of the side ribs. |
6. Comb., as
fleece-encumbered,
fleece-like,
fleece-lined adjs. Also
† fleece-feeder, one who makes his profit out of fleeces (in
quot. fig.);
fleece-merchant, a dealer in wool;
fleece-picker N.Z., one who picks up fleeces in a shearing-shed;
fleece-wool, that obtained from the living animal at the annual shearings.
| 1814 Wordsw. Excursion vii. 613 The *fleece-encumbered flock. |
| 1549 Latimer 5th Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 136 There are to many suche *flese feders. |
| a 1729 Congreve Impossible Thing 128 That *fleece-like flow'r of fairy land. 1820 Shelley Cloud 47 The moon, Glides glimmering o'er my fleece-like floor. |
| 1894 Daily News 26 Mar. 5/7 With the exception of *fleece-lined underwear. |
| a 1774 Fergusson Iron Kirk Bell Poems (1845) 43 *Fleece-merchants may look bauld. |
| 1861 H. W. Harper Lett. fr. N.Z. 1857–1911 (1914) 20 July 54 Shearing, it happens, is in full swing, so there are a number of extra men, besides the shepherds of the station, shearers, *fleece-pickers, wool sorters, and ‘rouse-abouts’. 1892 W. E. Swanton Notes on N.Z. ii. 96 There are the boys to pick up the fleeces, one fleece picker to every four or five shearers. 1945 Baker Austral. Lang. iii. 63 Woolshed workers include the fleece-picker or fleecy. 1954 E. C. Studholme Te Waimate (ed. 2) xv. 130 Fleece-pickers received 15s. a week, wool-rollers 25s. to 30s. [in 1882]. |
| 1495 Nottingham Rec. III. 42 Centum stones de *flesse wolle. 1552 Act 5–6 Edw. VI c. 6. §1 Mingling Fell-wool and Lambs-wool..with Fleece-wool. 1769 De Foe's Tour Gt. Brit. I. 94 Fleece Wool, out of Lincolnshire. 1891 R. Wallace Rural Econ. Austral. & N.Z. xxix. 385 The years 1880, 1881, and 1882 were good years, when unsorted wool ranged between about 11d. and 1s. o½d. per lb., and fleece wool rose to close upon 1s. 6d. per lb. 1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 8 Oct. 15/2 The cost of putting an extremely good value in fleece wools has made it difficult for the puller to operate. 1951 L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs 378 Fleece..The main part of a sheep's wool, which is picked up in one, skirted, and rolled. This is sold as fleece wool, as opposed to locks, bellies, and pieces. |
▸ A jacket or pullover made from or lined with fleece,
esp. synthetic fleece.
| 1992 Los Angeles Times (Electronic ed.) 14 May Now that the sun has come out you can get a deal on sweat shirts and fleeces in the America's Cup International Village. 1993 Ski Surv. Feb.–Mar. 21/3 You don't see smart $1,000 skisuits here. The punks wear faded old fleeces and ski the bumps on teles or snowboards. 1997 Daily Tel. 28 Nov. 23/3 The shop has been selling an average of 100 fleeces a week since the beginning of the season. |
▪ II. fleece, v. (
fliːs)
Also 6–7
fleese, (6
flece,
fliese).
[f. prec. n.] 1. trans. To strip (a sheep) of the fleece; to clip off or strip the wool from;
lit. and
fig.| 1628 Wither Brit. Rememb. viii. 1442 A Clergy, that shall more desire to fleece, Then feed the flock. 1652 Season. Exp. Netherl. 15 What signified the bleating of such of your Countreymen as they daily fleec'd? 1708 Ozell tr. Boileau's Lutrin v. 87 For Thee his Flocks are fleec'd. 1885 Pall Mall G. 6 Nov. 1/1 The impulsive eagerness of some owners to fleece their sheep rather more often than is good for them. |
b. transf.| 1667 Waterhouse Fire Lond. 171 Thrifty Oaks, though fleeced of under boughs, yet if not headed, may thrive. |
2. To pluck or shear (the wool)
from a sheep. Hence
fig. to obtain by unjust or unfair means. Also, to take toll of, take pickings from. Now
rare.
| 1537 Hen. VIII. in State Papers II. 423 To flece, from tyme to tyme, all that you may catche from Us. 1576 Turberv. Venerie 198 Men which fliese a fee From euerie widowes flocke: a capon or a chicke. 1593 Nashe Four Lett. Confut. Wks. (Grosart) II. 242 Many lockes fleec'd from Tullie. 1605 Verstegan Dec. Intell. v. (1628) 115 By fleesing from each of these two countrys a parte. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage v. xiv. (1614) 519 Their wealth and substance being euery where so fleeced that [etc.] 1840 Carlyle Heroes iv. (1858) 293 To divide what they fleeced from these poor drudges. |
| absol. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 158 Much lesse are they to fleece or pluck from their Maister or Sheepheard. 1642 Rogers Naaman 317 Fleece not from God. |
3. To strip (a person, city, country, etc.) of money, property, etc., as a sheep is stripped of its fleece; to make (any one) pay to the uttermost; to exact money from, or make exacting charges upon; to plunder, rob heartlessly; to victimize. Also with
of.
| 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 855/2 The cardinall knowing he was well prouided of monie, sought occasion to fleece him of part thereof. 1601 F. Godwin Bps. of Eng. 359 Alfred..determined at his departure [from York] to fleece it. 1616 R. C. Times' Whistle vi. 2717 Many a gallant of his gold they fleece. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 584 His father..fleec'd the Church of Hereford to leave him an estate. 1719 D'Urfey Pills (1872) V. 99 When..Lawyers forget a rich Client to fleece. 1772 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. ii. Wks. (Globe) 650/2 In bad inns you are fleeced and starved. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. iv. 444 In this manner had Tanjore been humbled and fleeced. 1854 Hawthorne Eng. Note-bks. (1883) I. 463 A begging subscriptionist..has just fleeced me to that amount. 1866 R. M. Ballantyne Shift. Winds xxvii. (1881) 310 A place..where [seamen]..were soon fleeced of all their hardly-earned money. |
| absol. c 1572 Gascoigne Fruites Warre xcv. 1, I haue..fleest in Flaunders eke among the rest. |
4. a. To overspread as with a fleece.
b. To dapple or fleck with fleece-like masses.
| 1730–46 Thomson Autumn 958 Meantime, light-shadowing all, a sober calm Fleeces unbounded ether. 1748 ― Cast. Indol. i. 394 Not Titian's pencil e'er could so array, So fleece with clouds, the pure etherial space. 1799 Wordsw. Nutting, One of those green stones That fleeced with moss, under the shady trees, Lay round me. 1855 Beecher Star Papers xxxii. (1873) 349 The trees are dressed with snow..The bucket, the well-curb are fleeced over. 1888 Shairp in Knight Shairp & Friends 87 The sky was bright blue, fleeced with the whitest clouds. |
Hence
fleeced ppl. a.1| a 1800 Cowper tr. Andreini's Adam Wks. 1835–7 X. 327 The lifeless skins Of fleeced animals. 1864 H. Spencer Illust. Univ. Progr. 99 The ill-educated children, the fleeced relatives, who have to suffer from it. |