fledge

Meanings

Verb

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.

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

Words With Friends Score: 13

fledge is a valid Words With Friends word