Adjacent Words

Fledge definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FLEDGE, a. flej.
Feathered; furnished with fethers or wings; able to fly.
His locks behind, illustrious on his shoulders, fledge with wings, lay waving round.
FLEDGE, v.t. To furnish with fethers; to supply with the fethers necessary for flight.
The birds were not yet fledged enough to shift for themselves.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: feed, care for, and rear young birds for flight
2: decorate with feathers; "fledge an arrow" [syn: fledge, flight]
3: grow feathers; "The young sparrows are fledging already" [syn: fledge, feather]

Merriam Webster's

verb (fledged; fledging) Etymology: fledge capable of flying, from Middle English flegge, from Old English -flycge; akin to Old High German flucki capable of flying, Old English fl?ogan to fly — more at fly Date: 1566 intransitive verb of a young bird to acquire the feathers necessary for flight or independent activity; also to leave the nest after acquiring such feathers transitive verb 1. to rear until ready for flight or independent activity 2. to cover with or as if with feathers or down 3. to furnish (as an arrow) with feathers

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 intr. (of a bird) grow feathers. 2 tr. provide (an arrow) with feathers. 3 tr. bring up (a young bird) until it can fly. 4 tr. (as fledged adj.) a able to fly. b independent; mature. 5 tr. deck or provide with feathers or down. Etymology: obs. fledge (adj.) 'fit to fly', f. OE flycge (recorded in unfligge) f. a Gmc root rel. to FLY(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fledge Fledge, a. [OE. flegge, flygge; akin to D. vlug, G. fl["u]gge, fl["u]cke, OHG. flucchi, Icel. fleygr, and to E. fly. [root]84. See Fly, v. i.] Feathered; furnished with feathers or wings; able to fly. His shoulders, fledge with wings. --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fledge Fledge, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Fledged; p. pr. & vb. n. Fledging.] 1. To furnish with feathers; to supply with the feathers necessary for flight. The birds were not as yet fledged enough to shift for themselves. --L'Estrange. 2. To furnish or adorn with any soft covering. Your master, whose chin is not yet fledged. --Shak.

Moby Thesaurus

attain majority, bloom, come of age, come to maturity, develop, feather, flower, grow, grow up, leave the nest, mature, mellow, reach manhood, reach twenty-one, reach voting age, ripen, season, settle down, temper, toga virilis