# fleece

> English word · Noun · IPA /fliːs/ · frequency rank #18,081

## Definitions
1. Hair or wool of a sheep or similar animal
2. Insulating skin with the wool attached
3. A textile similar to velvet, but with a longer pile that gives it a softness and a higher sheen.
4. An insulating wooly jacket
5. Mat or felts composed of fibers, sometimes used as a membrane backer.
6. Any soft woolly covering resembling a fleece.
7. The fine web of cotton or wool removed by the doffing knife from the cylinder of a carding machine.

## Etymology
From Middle English flees, flese, flus, fleos, from Old English flēos, flīes, flȳs, from Proto-West Germanic *fleus.

## Easily confused with
- **fleet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fleece-vs-fleet)
- **flees** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fleece-vs-flees)
- **freeze** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fleece-vs-freeze)
- **fleets** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fleece-vs-fleets)
- **flee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flee-vs-fleece)
- **fence** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fence-vs-fleece)
- **fleck** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fleck-vs-fleece)
- **fierce** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fierce-vs-fleece)

## Common misspellings (8)
`felece`, `ffleece`, `flece`, `flecee`, `fleecce`, `fleeec`, `flleece`, `lfeece`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/fleece