fledged; fledging
of a young bird
: to acquire the feathers necessary for flight or independent activity
also
: to leave the nest after acquiring such feathers
1
: to rear until ready for flight or independent activity
2
: to cover with or as if with feathers or down
3
: to furnish (something) with feathers
fledge an arrow
Examples of fledge in a Sentence
The young birds haven't yet fledged.
Recent Examples on the Web
Both male and female parents share roles and switch duties, including foraging for food, incubating the eggs and rearing the chicks, which tend to start fledging in June.
—
Adriana Pérez, Chicago Tribune, 4 June 2025
Video showed that, as the eaglet took off at 10:46 a.m., Gizmo’s head swiveled, monitoring as Sunny fledged, or made an inaugural flight from the nest.
—Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 2 June 2025
The female fledged from St. Cloud and has nested in this box since 2016.
—Kristi Miller, Twin Cities, 1 Apr. 2025
The Chicago Park District has signed off on a habitat expansion of the Montrose dunes natural area, part of the beach where a pair of endangered Great Lakes piping plovers escaped a music festival, lost a clutch of eggs, fought off other birds and successfully fledged chicks two summers in a row.
—Chicago Tribune, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for fledge
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Adriana Pérez, Chicago Tribune, 4 June 2025
Video showed that, as the eaglet took off at 10:46 a.m., Gizmo’s head swiveled, monitoring as Sunny fledged, or made an inaugural flight from the nest.
—Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 2 June 2025
The female fledged from St. Cloud and has nested in this box since 2016.
—Kristi Miller, Twin Cities, 1 Apr. 2025
The Chicago Park District has signed off on a habitat expansion of the Montrose dunes natural area, part of the beach where a pair of endangered Great Lakes piping plovers escaped a music festival, lost a clutch of eggs, fought off other birds and successfully fledged chicks two summers in a row.
—Chicago Tribune, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for fledge
Cite this Entry
“Fledge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fledge. Accessed 9 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
fledge
verb
fledged; fledging
1
: to develop the feathers necessary for flying
also
: to leave the nest after developing such feathers
2
: to provide with feathers
fledge an arrow
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share