to fledge
Care for young birds until they can fly
- verb
- /flɛdʒ/
- Specialized
- The bird watchers saw the mother bird fledge her chicks until they were ready to take flight.
- a full-fledged bird
- a fully fledged bird
- become full-fledged
Examples
-
After months of care, the rescue center finally helped the injured hawk fledge successfully.
-
Helping my students grow from kindergarteners into fully fledged readers and writers in just one year is an extraordinary process.
Academic text (2012) -
As the young robins continued to fledge, they learned to spread their wings and flap strongly.
Antonyms
How Much Care
to fledge
18
8.2
- Specialized
to rear
23
3.4
to raise
∞
1.4
to care for
347
1.0
to tend
174
1.0
to look after
472
1.1
Surface Forms
Etymology
Fledge comes from an old idea of 'feather' or 'to grow feathers'. So, when we say people 'fledge' young birds, it means they care for and raise them until the chicks have feathers and can fly.