Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To take care of (a young bird) until it is ready to fly.
  • intransitive verb To cover with or as if with feathers.
  • intransitive verb To provide (an arrow) with feathers.
  • intransitive verb To grow the plumage necessary for flight.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Able to fly: having the wings developed for flight; fledged.
  • To acquire feathers large enough for flight; in general, to acquire full plumage: often with out: as, the young birds have fledged out.
  • To feather or provide with plumage; provide with anything resembling plumage.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Feathered; furnished with feathers or wings; able to fly.
  • verb To furnish with feathers; to supply with the feathers necessary for flight.
  • verb To furnish or adorn with any soft covering.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • 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.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb feed, care for, and rear young birds for flight
  • verb grow feathers
  • verb decorate with feathers

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably from obsolete fledge, feathered, from Middle English flegge, from Old English *flycge; see pleu- in Indo-European roots.]

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