Definition of Fleece

1. Noun. The wool of a sheep or similar animal.

Generic synonyms: Wool

2. Verb. Rip off; ask an unreasonable price. "They fleece him of all his money"
Exact synonyms: Gazump, Hook, Overcharge, Pluck, Plume, Rob, Soak, Surcharge
Specialized synonyms: Extort, Gouge, Rack, Squeeze, Wring
Entails: Bill, Charge
Generic synonyms: Cheat, Chisel, Rip Off
Derivative terms: Overcharge
Antonyms: Undercharge

3. Noun. Tanned skin of a sheep with the fleece left on; used for clothing.
Exact synonyms: Sheepskin
Generic synonyms: Leather
Specialized synonyms: Golden Fleece

4. Verb. Shear the wool from. ; "Shear sheep"
Exact synonyms: Shear
Generic synonyms: Shave, Trim
Derivative terms: Shearer, Shearing, Shears

5. Noun. A soft bulky fabric with deep pile; used chiefly for clothing.
Generic synonyms: Cloth, Fabric, Material, Textile
Derivative terms: Fleecy

6. Noun. Outer coat of especially sheep and yaks.
Exact synonyms: Wool
Generic synonyms: Coat, Pelage
Derivative terms: Woolly, Wooly

Definition of Fleece

1. n. 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.

2. v. t. To deprive of a fleece, or natural covering of wool.

Definition of Fleece

1. Noun. Hair or wool of a sheep or similar animal ¹

2. Noun. Insulating skin with the wool attached ¹

3. Noun. A textile similar to velvet, but with a longer pile that gives it a softness and a higher sheen. ¹

4. Noun. An insulating wooly jacket ¹

5. Noun. (context: roofing) Mat or felts composed of fibers, sometimes used as a membrane backer. ¹

6. Verb. Con or trick someone out of money. ¹

7. Verb. To shear the fleece from an animal (such as a sheep). ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Fleece

1. to remove the coat of wool from [v FLEECED, FLEECING, FLEECES]

Medical Definition of Fleece

1. 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. 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 Golden. Origin: OE. Flees, AS. Fleos; akin to D. Flies, vlies. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Fleece

fled
fledge
fledged
fledgeless
fledgeling
fledgeling(a)
fledges
fledgier
fledgiest
fledging
fledgling
fledgling(a)
fledglings
fledgy
flee
fleece (current term)
fleece worm
fleeceable
fleeced
fleeceless
fleecer
fleecers
fleeces
fleech
fleeched
fleeches
fleeching
fleecier
fleeciest
fleecily

Literary usage of Fleece

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: Giving the Derivation, Source, Or Origin of by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer (1898)
"Australia has been called "The Land of the Golden fleece," because of the ... Golden fleece of the north. The fur and peltry of Siberia is so called. ..."

2. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General by Thomas Spencer Baynes (1890)
"The carpet wools are yielded by sheep of the type of the Blackface of the mountainous regions of Scotland, from which is obtained a fleece of long staple ..."

3. The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches by William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1907)
"st^—K^g^=i5~Tit^j^-irF^ ^ WILLIAM VAUGHN MOODY. S •»—r±—•—* J HAVE you ever seen a cotton-field white with the harvest, — its golden fleece hovering above ..."

4. Index to Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends by Mary Huse Eastman (1915)
"(Golden fleece.) Haaren and Poland. Famous men of Greece. ... (Story of the golden fleece.) Tappan. Myths from many lands. (Golden fleece.) Storr. ..."

5. Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue by Robert Ellis, Great Britain Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851, London Great exhibition of the works of industry of all nations, 1851 (1851)
"Carded wool, the fleece of a ram four years old ; the weight of the fleece was after the ... fleece of a rain and of ewes, sheared hi the spring of 1850. ..."

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