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Formation vs Fleet - What's the difference?

formation | fleet |

As a noun formation

is formation.

As a proper noun fleet is

the stream that ran where fleet street now runs.

formation

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • Something possessing structure or form.
  • The act of assembling a group or structure.
  • (geology) A rock or face of a mountain.
  • (military) A grouping of military units or smaller formations under a command, such as a brigade, division, wing, etc.
  • (military) An arrangement of moving troops, ships, or aircraft, such as a wedge, line abreast, or echelon. Often "in formation".
  • The process of influencing or guiding a person to a deeper understanding of a particular vocation.
  • Synonyms

    * (military grouping of units) battle group, brigade group, task force, combat team * (military arrangement of forces) tactical formation, battle formation

    fleet

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A group of vessels or vehicles.
  • Any group of associated items.
  • * 2004 , Jim Hoskins, Building an on Demand Computing Environment with IBM
  • This is especially true in distributed printing environments, where a fleet of printers is shared by users on a network.
  • (nautical) A number of vessels in company, especially war vessels; also, the collective naval force of a country, etc.
  • (nautical, British Royal Navy) Any command of vessels exceeding a squadron in size, or a rear-admiral's command, composed of five sail-of-the-line, with any number of smaller vessels.
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A flood; a creek or inlet, a bay or estuary, a river subject to the tide. cognate to Low German fleet
  • * Matthewes
  • Together wove we nets to entrap the fish / In floods and sedgy fleets .
  • (nautical) A location, as on a navigable river, where barges are secured.
  • Derived terms
    * Fleet * fleet in being * Fleet Street * merchant fleet

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To float.
  • [Antony] "Our sever'd navy too,
    Have knit again, and fleet, threat'ning most sea-like."'' -- Shakespeare, ''Antony and Cleopatra
  • To pass over rapidly; to skim the surface of
  • a ship that fleets the gulf
    (Spenser)
  • To hasten over; to cause to pass away lightly, or in mirth and joy
  • * Shakespeare
  • Many young gentlemen flock to him, and fleet the time carelessly.
    And so through this dark world they fleet / Divided, till in death they meet;'' -- Percy Shelley, ''Rosalind and Helen .
  • (nautical) To move up a rope, so as to haul to more advantage; especially to draw apart the blocks of a tackle.
  • (Totten)
  • (nautical, obsolete) To shift the position of dead-eyes when the shrouds are become too long.
  • To cause to slip down the barrel of a capstan or windlass, as a rope or chain.
  • To take the cream from; to skim.
  • Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • (literary) Swift in motion; moving with velocity; light and quick in going from place to place; nimble; fast.
  • * Milton
  • In mail their horses clad, yet fleet and strong.
  • * 1908:
  • (uncommon) Light; superficially thin; not penetrating deep, as soil.
  • (Mortimer)