flea

Etymology 1

From Middle English fle, from Old English flēah, flēa, from Proto-West Germanic *flauh, from Proto-Germanic *flauhaz (compare West Frisian flie, Low German Flo, Flö, Dutch vlo, German Floh, Icelandic fló), from pre-Germanic *plóukos, *plówkos, from Proto-Indo-European *plúsis (compare Latin pulex, Sanskrit प्लुषि (plúṣi)). The archaic plural fleen is from Middle English fleen, flen, from Old English flēan (“fleas”).

noun

1. A small, wingless, parasitic insect of the order Siphonaptera, renowned for its bloodsucking habits and jumping abilities.
2. (derogatory) A thing of no significance.
   The nation of beggars on horseback which first colonized California has left behind it many traditions unworthy of conservation, and multitudinous fleas not at all traditional, but even less keepworthy […] 1871, Fitz Hugh Ludlow, The Heart of the Continent, page 414

verb

1. (transitive) To remove fleas from (an animal).
   I have seen a Lubra, or native woman, suckling two puppies; and, like monkeys, these ladies have a particular fancy for fleaing their dogs. 1861, Horace William Wheelwright, Bush Wanderings of a Naturalist, page 192

Etymology 2

Alternative forms.

verb

1. Obsolete spelling of flay
   […] he'd flea me alive like another St Bartholomew. 1605, Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, Everyman's Library, published 1991, page 36