Fleece (lana, el vellón) is a sheep´s wooly coat and what shearers cut off sheep. Some examples:
- The shearers cut off the fleece from the sheep (los esquiladores cortaron el vellón de las ovejas).
- Some mortals, especially in Northern Europe, wear jackets (chaquetas de vellón) made of fleece.
- Mr. Johnson, the British Prime Minister, wears a fleece (un suéter de lana) to keep out the chill (…para mantener el frio a raya).
There is another use for a negative context: the use is figurative (figurativo). If somebody fleeces (despluma) a person, he cheats them and takes money in an improper way. Another similar word is “swindle” (estafar)
An example:
- Mr. Smith tried to fleece his customers (…trató de desplomar a sus clientes). You could also write “…tried to swindle his customers”.
So, have you ever been fleeced?
