fledge
/flɛd͡ʒ/ verb, adjective
Forms fledges fledging fledged flidge flig flish flitch flush
- verb (transitive) To care for a young bird until it is capable of flight.
- verb (intransitive) To grow, cover or be covered with feathers.
- verb (transitive) To decorate with feathers.
- verb (intransitive) To complete the last moult and become a winged adult insect.
- adjective (archaic) Feathered; furnished with feathers or wings; able to fly.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English flegge, fligge, flygge, from Old English *flyċġe (“able to fly, fledged”) (attested in *unflyċġe, unfligge (“unfledged”)), from Proto-West Germanic *flugi, from Proto-Germanic *flugjaz (“able to fly, fledged”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to run, flow, be swift, flee, fly”).
From Proto-Germanic: Dutch vlug (“fledged, able to fly, nimble, swift”), Low German flügg (“fledged”), German flügge, German flücke (“fledged”), Icelandic fleygur (“able to fly, fledged”)
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Feathered; furnished with feathers or wings; able to fly. Hfledge with wings. Milton.
- verb To furnish with feathers; to supply with the feathers necessary for flight.
- verb To furnish or adorn with any soft covering.
Etymology [OE. flegge, flygge; akin to D. vlug, G. flügge, flücke, OHG. flucchi, Icel. fleygr, and to E. fly. Fly, v. i.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “fledge”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details