fleece
1 of 2noun
ˈflēs 
1
a
: the coat of wool covering a wool-bearing animal (such as a sheep)
b
: the wool obtained from a sheep at one shearing
2
a
: any of various soft or woolly coverings
b
: a soft bulky deep-piled knitted or woven fabric used chiefly for clothing
fleece
2 of 2verb
fleeced; fleecing
transitive verb
1
a
: to strip of money or property by fraud or extortion
b
: to charge excessively for goods or services
2
: to remove the fleece from : shear
3
: to dot or cover with fleecy masses
Synonyms
Noun
- coat
- fur
- hair
- jacket
- pelage
- pile
- wool
Verb
- beat
- bilk
- bleed
- cheat
- chisel
- chouse
- con
- cozen
- defraud
- diddle
- do
- do in
- euchre
- fiddle
- flimflam
- gaff
- hose [slang]
- hustle
- mulct
- nobble [British slang]
- pluck
- ream
- rip off
- rook
- screw
- shake down
- short
- shortchange
- skin
- skunk
- squeeze
- stick
- stiff
- sting
- sucker
- swindle
- thimblerig
- victimize
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Noun learning how to shear the fleece off a sheep Verb Don't let that salesman fleece you. an unsuspecting tourist fleeced by a scam artist
Recent Examples on the Web
Lauren Gray, Popular Mechanics, 10 Aug. 2022 Joggers are piled up at Gap, Macy’s has too much activewear and Kohl’s is full of fleece. Suzanne Kapner, WSJ, 5 June 2022 Dressed in a camouflage baseball cap, a purple fleece jacket and white high tops, Halsey exudes a low-key yet focused energy. New York Times, 6 May 2022 For colder days, shop this cotton-blend fleece hoodie that's marked down from $69 to $41. Isabel Garcia, PEOPLE.com, 26 Aug. 2021 Head to Amazon to shop the faux shearling fleece throw from Bedsure while it's still marked down. Isabel Garcia, PEOPLE.com, 2 Dec. 2021 This thick, warm fleece brings top-notch comfort to base camp. Abigail Barronian, Outside Online, 13 June 2022 The president’s olive green fleece is made by a Ukrainian tactical gear maker called M-TAC. Tiffany Ap, Quartz, 9 May 2022 Earlier this year, an Australian sheep named Alex was found with an 88-pound fleece, and in 2021, Baarack the sheep was rescued with 75 pounds of wool. Washington Post, 26 Apr. 2022 Arkansas Online, 9 July 2022 O'Rourke, who often schemed with Frank DeKova's Chief Wild Eagle to fleece unsuspecting visitors. Arkansas Online, 9 July 2022 O'Rourke, who often schemed with Frank DeKova's Chief Wild Eagle to fleece unsuspecting visitors. Arkansas Online, 9 July 2022 O'Rourke, who often schemed with Frank DeKova's Chief Wild Eagle to fleece unsuspecting visitors. Arkansas Online, 9 July 2022 Morgan O’Rourke, who often schemed with Frank DeKova’s Chief Wild Eagle to fleece unsuspecting visitors. Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2022 O'Rourke, who often schemed with Frank DeKova's Chief Wild Eagle to fleece unsuspecting visitors. Arkansas Online, 9 July 2022 O'Rourke, who often schemed with Frank DeKova's Chief Wild Eagle to fleece unsuspecting visitors. Lynn Elber, USA TODAY, 8 July 2022 O’Rourke, who often schemed with Frank DeKova’s Chief Wild Eagle to fleece unsuspecting visitors. Lynn Elber, ajc, 8 July 2022 See More
Noun
Made of cuddly fleece, this adorable toddler robe is particularly soft and cozy—perfect for warming your kids up in cooler weather. Lauren Gray, Popular Mechanics, 10 Aug. 2022 Joggers are piled up at Gap, Macy’s has too much activewear and Kohl’s is full of fleece. Suzanne Kapner, WSJ, 5 June 2022 Dressed in a camouflage baseball cap, a purple fleece jacket and white high tops, Halsey exudes a low-key yet focused energy. New York Times, 6 May 2022 For colder days, shop this cotton-blend fleece hoodie that's marked down from $69 to $41. Isabel Garcia, PEOPLE.com, 26 Aug. 2021 Head to Amazon to shop the faux shearling fleece throw from Bedsure while it's still marked down. Isabel Garcia, PEOPLE.com, 2 Dec. 2021 This thick, warm fleece brings top-notch comfort to base camp. Abigail Barronian, Outside Online, 13 June 2022 The president’s olive green fleece is made by a Ukrainian tactical gear maker called M-TAC. Tiffany Ap, Quartz, 9 May 2022 Earlier this year, an Australian sheep named Alex was found with an 88-pound fleece, and in 2021, Baarack the sheep was rescued with 75 pounds of wool. Washington Post, 26 Apr. 2022 Verb
O'Rourke, who often schemed with Frank DeKova's Chief Wild Eagle to fleece unsuspecting visitors. Arkansas Online, 9 July 2022 O'Rourke, who often schemed with Frank DeKova's Chief Wild Eagle to fleece unsuspecting visitors. Arkansas Online, 9 July 2022 O'Rourke, who often schemed with Frank DeKova's Chief Wild Eagle to fleece unsuspecting visitors. Arkansas Online, 9 July 2022 O'Rourke, who often schemed with Frank DeKova's Chief Wild Eagle to fleece unsuspecting visitors. Arkansas Online, 9 July 2022 Morgan O’Rourke, who often schemed with Frank DeKova’s Chief Wild Eagle to fleece unsuspecting visitors. Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2022 O'Rourke, who often schemed with Frank DeKova's Chief Wild Eagle to fleece unsuspecting visitors. Arkansas Online, 9 July 2022 O'Rourke, who often schemed with Frank DeKova's Chief Wild Eagle to fleece unsuspecting visitors. Lynn Elber, USA TODAY, 8 July 2022 O’Rourke, who often schemed with Frank DeKova’s Chief Wild Eagle to fleece unsuspecting visitors. Lynn Elber, ajc, 8 July 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English flees, from Old English flēos; akin to Middle High German vlius fleece and perhaps to Latin pluma feather, down
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Verb
1537, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Kids Definition
fleece 1 of 2
noun
ˈflēs
: the woolly coat of an animal and especially a sheep
fleece
2 of 2verb
fleeced; fleecing
: to rob or cheat by trickery
fleecing 1 of 2
noun
as in extortion
the exaction of a grossly excessive charge for goods or services the fleecing of the summer tourists seems to be a time-honored tradition on that resort island Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- extortion
- gouging
- overcharging
- cheating
- defrauding
- swindling
- highway robbery
- chiseling
- chiselling
- skinning
fleecing
2 of 2verb
as in cheating
to rob by the use of trickery or threats swindlers who use the telephone to fleece senior citizens out of their savings Synonyms & Similar Words
- cheating
- squeezing
- plucking
- hustling
- screwing
- stinging
- doing
- defrauding
- beating
- swindling
- bilking
- sticking
- victimizing
- deceiving
- mulcting
- bleeding
- conning
- suckering
- shortchanging
- rooking
- tricking
- exploiting
- stiffing
- diddling
- fiddling
- reaming
- shorting
- chiseling
- gaffing
- fooling
- cozening
- hosing
- extorting
- betraying
- nobbling
- skinning
- shaking down
- euchring
- gouging
- chiselling
- ripping off
- chousing
- flimflamming
- thimblerigging
- overcharging
- milking
- wrenching
- duping
- doing in
- gulling
- skunking
- taking to the cleaners
- taking for a ride
- selling a bill of goods to
- clipping
- wringing
- soaking
- wresting
- nicking
- bamboozling
- bitching
- double-crossing
- roping (in)
- fast-talking
- hyphenise
- hyphenised
- hyphenises
- hyphenising
- hyphenism
- hyphenization
- hyphenizations
- hyphenize
- hyphenized
- hyphenizes
- hyphenizing
- hyphenless
- hyphens
- Hyphessobrycon
- hypho-
- Hyphochytriales
- Hyphomicrobiaceae
- Hyphomicrobiales
- Hyphomycetales
- hyphomycete
- Hyphomycetes
- hyphomycetic
- hyphomycetous
- hyphomycosis
- hyphopodia