v. [Perh. a corruption (due to association with FLETCHER) of FLEDGE v. 4; though the latter has not been found earlier than 1796.] trans. To fit (an arrow) with a feather; to feather. lit. and fig.
1635–56. Cowley, Davideis, II. 91.
| Thy Darts are healthful Gold, and downwards fall | |
| Soft as the Feathers that they’re fletch’d withal. |
1760. Warburton, Doctr. Grace, II. x. By the most unregenerate malice in the world, he dips his curses in the gall of irony; and, that they may strike the deeper, fletches them with a prophane classical Parody.
1845. J. Saunders, Pict. Eng. Life, Chaucer, 89. The arrows were generally a yard in length, notched at the extremity to fit the string, and fletched with the feathers of the goose, the eagle, and sometimes the peacock.
1876. Bancroft, Hist. U. S., V. xliii. 25. They fletched their complaint by adding: ‘America loved his brother.’
