Word Confusion: Flea versus Flee

Fleas flee with fleeting haste when up against a dose of flea powder!

Do note that while these two words are homophones, flea is strictly a noun, and it can modify a noun whereas flee is all about the action…as a verb.

Word Confusions…

…started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.

If you found this post on “Flea versus Flee” interesting, consider tweeting it to your friends. Subscribe to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

Return to top

Flea	Flee
Credit to: Apple Dictionary.com; Cambridge Dictionary: flee
Naturkundemuseum Berlin Pulex irritans, 2013, by Anagoria is under the CC BY 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — This one’s a flea for humans!	Chase Cave Girl by penClipart-Vectors is under the CC0 license, via Needpix.com, courtesy of Pixabay. — She flees before him…hope she gets away!
Part of Grammar:
Noun Plural: fleas	Verb, intransitive & transitive Third person present verb: flees Past tense or past participle: fled Gerund or present participle: fleeing
A small wingless jumping insect which feeds on the blood of mammals and birds [water flea] A tiny and semitransparent freshwater crustacean with long antennae and prominent eyes, often used as food for aquarium fish	Verb, intransitive: Run away from a place or situation of danger Take flight To move swiftly Fly Speed Verb, transitive: Run away from someone or something
Examples:
Of the order Siphonaptera, there are several families and many species, including the human flea, the dog flea, and the cat flea. I picked up a couple cans of water fleas for my fish. Honey, Rufus needs a new flea collar. She expected to be sent away with a flea in her ear. Paul and Helen are going to the flea market this weekend.	Verb, intransitive: A man was shot twice as he fled from five masked youths. An FBI spokesman said Stewart fled before police arrived. Thousands of fugitives are fleeing from the war-torn area. Hundreds of people have left their devastated villages and fled to the mountains. Thousands of refugees fled across the border. If they are not watched carefully they will flee. Verb, transitive: He was forced to flee the country. All remaining doubt that he was a guerrilla began to flee my mind. Every year thousands of people flee the big cities in search of the rural idyll. Never flee the scene of an accident.
Derivatives:
Adjective: flea-bitten Noun: flea-flicker, fleabag, fleabane, fleabite, fleapit [British]	Adjective: unfleeing Verb, transitive: outflee
History of the Word:
Old English flēa, flēah, is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch vlo and the German Floh.	Old English flēon is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch vlieden and the German fliehen.

C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan…which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them…and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions by exploring the index. You may also want to explore Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, and/or the Properly Punctuated.

Return to top

Pinterest Photo Credits:

Flea Tools by Clker-Free-Vector-Images is under the Pixabay License, via Pixabay. Pulex irritans is courtesy of Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History and is under the CC0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.