Fleet Street
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Now synonymous with journal- ism and newspaperdom, Fleet Street in London was a famous thoroughfare centuries before the first newspaper was published there at the close of the 18th century.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Fleet Street” mean?
Now synonymous with journal- ism and newspaperdom, Fleet Street in London was a famous thoroughfare centuries before the first newspaper was published there at the close of the 18th century.
Is “Fleet Street” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.