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Webster 1913 Edition

Sheet

Sheet

,
Noun.
[OE.
shete
,
schete
, AS.
scēte
,
scȳte
, fr.
sceát
a projecting corner, a fold in a garment (akin to D.
schoot
sheet, bosom, lap, G.
schoss
bosom, lap, flap of a coat, Icel.
skaut
, Goth.
skauts
the hem of a garment); originally, that which shoots out, from the root of AS.
sceótan
to shoot. √159. See
Shoot
,
Verb.
T.
]
In general, a large, broad piece of anything thin, as paper, cloth, etc.; a broad, thin portion of any substance; an expanded superficies.
Specifically:
(a)
A broad piece of cloth, usually linen or cotton, used for wrapping the body or for a covering; especially, one used as an article of bedding next to the body.
He fell into a trance, and saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great
sheet
knit at the four corners.
Acts x. 10, 11.
If I do die before thee, prithee, shroud me
In one of those same
sheets
.
Shakespeare
(b)
A broad piece of paper, whether folded or unfolded, whether blank or written or printed upon; hence, a letter; a newspaper, etc.
(c)
A single signature of a book or a pamphlet;
in
pl.
,
the book itself.
To this the following
sheets
are intended for a full and distinct answer.
Waterland.
(d)
A broad, thinly expanded portion of metal or other substance;
as, a
sheet
of copper, of glass, or the like; a plate; a leaf
.
(e)
A broad expanse of water, or the like.
“The two beautiful sheets of water.”
Macaulay.
(f)
A sail.
Dryden.
(g)
(Geol.)
An extensive bed of an eruptive rock intruded between, or overlying, other strata.
2.
[AS.
sceáta
. See the Etymology above.]
(Naut.)
(a)
A rope or chain which regulates the angle of adjustment of a sail in relation in relation to the wind; – usually attached to the lower corner of a sail, or to a yard or a boom.
(b)
pl.
The space in the forward or the after part of a boat where there are no rowers;
as, fore
sheets
; stern
sheets
.
☞ Sheet is often used adjectively, or in combination, to denote that the substance to the name of which it is prefixed is in the form of sheets, or thin plates or leaves; as, sheet brass, or sheet-brass; sheet glass, or sheet-glass; sheet gold, or sheet-gold; sheet iron, or sheet-iron, etc.
A sheet in the wind
,
half drunk.
[Sailors’ Slang]
–
Both sheets in the wind
,
very drunk.
[Sailors' Slang]
–
In sheets
,
lying flat or expanded; not folded, or folded but not bound; – said especially of printed sheets.
–
Sheet bend
(Naut.)
,
a bend or hitch used for temporarily fastening a rope to the bight of another rope or to an eye.
–
Sheet lightning
,
Sheet piling
,
etc. See under
Lightning
,
Piling
, etc.

Sheet

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Sheeted
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Sheeting
.]
1.
To furnish with a sheet or sheets; to wrap in, or cover with, a sheet, or as with a sheet.
“The sheeted dead.” “When snow the pasture sheets.”
Shak.
2.
To expand, as a sheet.
The star shot flew from the welkin blue,
As it fell from the
sheeted
sky.
J. R. Drake.
To sheet home
(Naut.)
,
to haul upon a sheet until the sail is as flat, and the clew as near the wind, as possible.

Webster 1828 Edition

Sheet

SHEET

,
Noun.
[L. schenda; Gr. The Greek and Latin words signify a table or plate for writing on; L. scindo, Gr.]
1. A broad piece of cloth used as part of bed-furniture.
2. A broad piece of paper as it comes from the manufacturer. Sheets of paper are of different sizes, as royal, demi, foolscap, pot and post-paper.
3. A piece of paper printed, folede and bound, or formed in to a book in blank, and making four, eight, sixteen or twenty-four pages, &c.
4. Any thing expanded; as a sheet of water or of fire; a sheet of copper, lead or iron.
5. Sheets, plu. a book or pamphlet. The following sheets contains a full answer to my opponent.
6. A sail.

SHEET

,
Noun.
In nautical language, a rope fastened to one or both the lower corners of a sail to extend and retain it in a particular situation. When a ship sails with a side-wind, the lower corners of the main and fore-sails are fastened with a tackand a sheet.

SHEET

,
Verb.
T.
1. To furnish with sheets. [Little used.]
2. To fold in a sheet. [Little used.]
3. To cover as with a sheet; to cover with something broad and thin.
When snow the pasture sheets. Shak.

Definition 2024

Sheet

Sheet

See also: sheet

English

Proper noun

Sheet

  1. A village in Hampshire, England.

sheet

sheet

See also: Sheet

English

Noun

sheet ‎(plural sheets)

  1. A thin bed cloth used as a covering for a mattress or as a layer over the sleeper.
    • Use the sheets in the hall closet to make the bed.
    • Bible, Acts x. 10, 11
      He fell into a trance, and saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners.
    • Shakespeare
      If I do die before thee, prithee, shroud me / In one of those same sheets.
  2. A piece of paper, usually rectangular, that has been prepared for writing, artwork, drafting, wrapping, manufacture of packaging (boxes, envelopes, etc.), and for other uses. The word does not include scraps and irregular small pieces destined to be recycled, used for stuffing or cushioning or paper mache, etc.
    • A sheet of paper measuring eight and one-half inches wide by eleven inches high is a popular item in commerce.
    • Paper is designated “20 pound” if a stack (ream) of 500 sheets 22 inches by 17 inches weighs 20 pounds.
  3. A flat metal pan, often without raised edge, used for baking.
    • Place the rolls on the cookie sheet, edges touching, and bake for 10-11 minutes.
  4. A thin, flat layer of solid material.
    • The glazer cut several panes from a large sheet of glass.
    • A sheet of that new silicon stuff is as good as a sheet of tinfoil to keep food from sticking in the baking pan.
  5. A broad, flat expanse of a material on a surface.
    • Mud froze on the road in a solid sheet, then more rain froze into a sheet of ice on top of the mud!
  6. (nautical) A line (rope) used to adjust the trim of a sail.
    • To be "three sheets to the wind" is to say that a four-cornered sail is tethered only by one sheet and thus the sail is useless.
  7. (nautical, nonstandard) A sail.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Dryden to this entry?)
  8. (curling) The area of ice on which the game of curling is played.
  9. (nonstandard) A layer of veneer.
  10. (figuratively) Precipitation of such quantity and force as to resemble a thin, virtually solid wall.
  11. (geology) An extensive bed of an eruptive rock intruded between, or overlying, other strata.
  12. (nautical) The space in the forward or after part of a boat where there are no rowers.
    fore sheets; stern sheets

Synonyms

Hyponyms

Coordinate terms

  • (thin layer of solid material): film
  • (expanse of material): film

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

References

Verb

sheet ‎(third-person singular simple present sheets, present participle sheeting, simple past and past participle sheeted)

  1. To cover or wrap with cloth, or paper, or other similar material.
    Remember to sheet the floor before you start painting.
    • Shakespeare
      Yea, like a stag, when snow the pasture sheets, / The barks of trees thou browsed'st.
  2. Of rain, or other precipitation, to pour heavily.
    We couldn't go out because the rain was sheeting down all day long.
  3. (nautical) To trim a sail using a sheet.

Translations

References

  • sheet in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English schete; partly from Old English scēte, scȳte, scīte ‎(“a sheet, a piece of linen cloth”); partly from Old English scēata ‎(“a corner, angle; the lower corner of a sail, sheet”); and Old English scēat ‎(“a corner, angle”); all from Proto-Germanic *skautijǭ, *skautaz ‎(“corner, wedge, lap”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewd- ‎(“to throw, shoot, pursue, rush”). Cognate with North Frisian skut ‎(“the fold of a garment, lap, coattail”), West Frisian skoat ‎(“sheet; sail; lap”), Dutch schoot ‎(“the fold of a garment, lap, sheet”), German Low German Schote ‎(“a line from the foot of a sail”), German Schoß ‎(“the fold of a garment, lap”), Swedish sköt ‎(“sheet”), Icelandic skaut ‎(“the corner of a cloth, a line from the foot of a sail, the skirt or sleeve of a garment, a hood”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ʃiːt/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ʃit/
  • Hyphenation: sheet
  • Rhymes: -iːt

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