flea

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See also: fleá

English

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Etymology 1

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

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

Noun

flea (plural fleas)

  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
Translations

Verb

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

Alternative forms.

Verb

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 Millar, , →OCLC:
      In this Thwackum had the advantage; for while Square could only scarify the poor lad's reputation, he could flea his skin […]

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