Fleece Meaning
/fliːs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounHair or wool of a sheep or similar animal
nounInsulating skin with the wool attached.
Sentence Examples
Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow.
Sheep are bred for their fleece and their meat.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The sheep's thick, warm ____ protects it from the cold mountain winter.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The sheep has a thick ____ of white wool that will be shorn in the late spring.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English fles, flees, flese, from Old English flēos, flīes, flȳs, from Proto-West Germanic *fleus.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The Sun ſhall change, the Moon to change ſhall ceaſe; / The Gaits to clim-----the Sheep to yield the Fleece, / Ere ought by me be either ſaid or done, / Shall do thee Wrang, I ſwear by all aboon."
— 1730, Allan Ramsay, “[Act II, Scene IV]”, in The Gentle Shepherd: A Scots Paſtoral-Comedy, page 23:
"Wool became the substitute for money. […] In all the middle periods of British history, the fleece was the expression and the measure of national prosperity or calamity."
— 1837, William Youatt, “Preface”, in Sheep: Their Breeds, Management and Diseases. […] (Library of Useful Knowledge), London: Baldwin and Cradock:
"We carefully skirt and weigh each fleece, calculate shipping, and notify the buyer when the fleece is ready. Sound but more workaday fleeces are batched to make roving and yarn."
— 2026, Robin Nistock, quotee, “Makers Space”, in Spin Off, volume L, number 1, page 13:
"Alas! in the morning the eaglet was gone; and, full of sorrow, they stooped to pick up the shining fleece with which the floor was spread. At their touch, every feather became a golden coin."
— 1879 January, Ellis Clare, “The Christmas Eaglet”, in Ballou's Monthly Magazine, volume 49, number 1, Boston: Thomes & Talbot:
"There is a difference between bookmaking, an entirely respectable profession, and fleecing people, which isn’t."
— 2015 August 2, “All bets are off: why bookmakers aren’t playing fair”, in The Observer, archived from the original on 21 Jan 2020:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The sheep's thick, warm ____ protects it from the cold mountain winter.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The sheep has a thick ____ of white wool that will be shorn in the late spring.