Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In surgery and farriery, a sharp instrument for lancing the gums or for opening veins in bloodletting; a lancet; in the most restricted sense, a form of spring-lancet.
- noun In heraldry, a bearing thought by some to represent the farriers' lancet, but more probably a builders' cramp of iron, whence often called
crampon . - noun Same as
phlegm . - noun A river; a stream.
- noun A water-course; a trench or drain.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Surg. & Far.) A sharp instrument used for opening veins, lancing gums, etc.; a kind of lancet.
- noun a tooth of a saw shaped like an isosceles triangle; a peg tooth.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A sharp instrument used to open a vein, to lance gums, or the like.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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He fumbled in his pockets as he spoke, and, as chance would it, the "fleam" (or cattle lancet) was somewhere about his dress.
A Dark Night's Work Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell 1837
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Just as you can use Google images to see what a fleam looks like without knowing what it means or how to translate destornillador without bothering to find out what language it is, you can use Google trends to learn about words that have distinct temporal profiles.
Rambles at starchamber.com » Blog Archive » Sense-making with Google Trends 2006
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Lacking a decent syringe for drawing blood, I'd merely pierced the vein inside his elbow with a fleam, and drained off the welling blood into a small vial.
A Breath of Snow and Ashes Gabaldon, Diana 2005
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Among these was a blacksmith and farrier, who took cognizance of his carcase, every limb of which having examined, he declared there was no bone broken, and taking out his fleam, blooded him plentifully as he lay.
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Clinker perceiving these signs of life, immediately tied up his arm with a garter, and, pulling out a horse-fleam, let him blood in the farrier stile. —
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Loggun (Denham and Clapperton), the Fán fleam, the “small piece of iron like an ace of spades on the upper Nile”
Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo 2003
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The article I chiefly accused myself of forgetting was a stout English clasp-knife, with a large handle, a blade like an “Arkansas toothpick,” and possessing the other useful appliances of picker, fleam, tweezers, lancet, and punch.
Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah 2003
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She realized that she was making him wait, contemplate the fleam lying in its case, and listen to the furnace that would soon consume him.
Lilith’s Dream: A Tale of the Vampire Life Whitley Strieber 2002
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After lacing the black sneakers, she pulled back the baseboard where she kept her cache, and withdrew the fleam she kept there.
Lilith’s Dream: A Tale of the Vampire Life Whitley Strieber 2002
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She laid the fleam against his neck, flicked it into the vein, drew it out.
Lilith’s Dream: A Tale of the Vampire Life Whitley Strieber 2002
trivet commented on the word fleam
A veterinarian's bleeding tool. See a picture here.
April 19, 2007
yarb commented on the word fleam
When he was laid upon the grass and turned from side to side, a great quantity of water ran out at his mouth, then he opened his eyes, and fetched a deep sigh. Clinker perceiving these signs of life, immediately tied up his arm with a garter, and, pulling out a horse-fleam, let him blood in the farrier stile.
- Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (Melford to Phillips), 1771
January 9, 2009
xstala commented on the word fleam
it's here:
http://www.gggodwin.com/cartgenie/prodInfo.asp?pid=63&cid=15
January 9, 2009
yarb commented on the word fleam
"...he was found by his disconsolate helpmate and some friends whom she had assembled for his assistance. Among these was a blacksmith and farrier, who took cognizance of his carcase, every limb of which having examined, he declared there was no bone broken, and taking out his fleam, blooded him plentifully as he lay."
— Smollett, Peregrine Pickle
January 17, 2022