See also: fleá

English

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Etymology 1

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False colors scanning electron micrograph of a flea.

From Middle English fle, from Old English flēah, flēa, from Proto-West Germanic *flauh, from Proto-Germanic *flauhaz (compare West Frisian flie, Low German Flo, Flö, Dutch vlo, German Floh, Icelandic fló), from pre-Germanic *plóukos, *plówkos, from or akin to Proto-Indo-European *plúsis (compare Latin pulex, Sanskrit प्लुषि (plúṣi)).

The archaic plural fleen is from Middle English fleen, flen, from Old English flēan (fleas).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /fliː/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

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flea (plural fleas or (archaic or UK dialectal) fleen)

  1. A small, wingless, parasitic insect of the order Siphonaptera, renowned for its bloodsucking habits and jumping abilities.
  2. (derogatory) A thing of no significance.
    • 1871, Fitz Hugh Ludlow, The Heart of the Continent, page 414:
      The nation of beggars on horseback which first colonized California has left behind it many traditions unworthy of conservation, and multitudinous fleas not at all traditional, but even less keepworthy []
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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flea (third-person singular simple present fleas, present participle fleaing, simple past and past participle fleaed)

  1. (transitive) To remove fleas from (an animal).
    Synonym: deflea
    • 1861, Horace William Wheelwright, Bush Wanderings of a Naturalist, page 192:
      I have seen a Lubra, or native woman, suckling two puppies; and, like monkeys, these ladies have a particular fancy for fleaing their dogs.

Etymology 2

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Alternative forms.

Verb

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flea (third-person singular simple present fleas, present participle fleaing, simple past and past participle flead)

  1. Obsolete spelling of flay.
    • 1605, Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, Everyman's Library, published 1991, page 36:
      [] he'd flea me alive like another St Bartholomew.
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, [], →OCLC:
      In this Thwackum had the advantage; for while Square could only scarify the poor lad's reputation, he could flea his skin []

Anagrams

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Old English

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Noun

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flēa m

  1. Alternative form of flēah