Definition of FLEDGE

fledge

Verb

Verb Forms: fledged, fledging, fledges

  • To grow feathers necessary for flight; to raise a young bird.
  • feed, care for, and rear young birds for flight
  • decorate with feathers
    • "fledge an arrow"
  • grow feathers
  • To care for a young bird until it is capable of flight.
  • To grow, cover or be covered with feathers.
  • To decorate with feathers.
  • To complete the last moult and become a winged adult insect.

Adj

  • Feathered; furnished with feathers or wings; able to fly.

Examples

  • After hours of practice, he was ready to FLEDGE his new vocabulary on the Scrabble board.

Origin / 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”).
Cognates
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”)

Synonyms

feather, flight

Scrabble Score: 11

fledge: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
fledge: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
fledge: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 13

fledge: valid Words With Friends Word