sheath

• sheathe (Verb)

From Middle English sheth, shethe, schethe, from Old English sċēaþ, from Proto-Germanic *skaiþiz, possibly from a root skaiþ- ("split, divide"), related to *skaiþaną (“separate”). Cognate with Dutch schede, Low German scheed, German Scheide, Danish skede, Norwegian skjede, Icelandic skeið.

• enPR: shēth, IPA^(key): /ʃiːθ/

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• Rhymes: -iːθ

sheath (plural sheaths)

1. A scabbard; a holster for a sword.
2. Anything that has a similar shape to a scabbard for a sword that is for the purpose of holding an object that is longer than it is wide; a case.
3. The insulating outer cover of an electrical cable.
4. A tight-fitting dress.
5. (Britain) A condom.
6. The foreskin of certain animals, e.g. dogs and horses.
7. The base of a leaf when sheathing or investing a stem or branch, as in grasses.
8. One of the elytra of an insect.

• (scabbard): scabbard
• (long case):
  • case
  • casing
  • cover
  • covering
  • envelope
• (tight-fitting dress):
• See also Thesaurus:condom

• leaf sheath
• myelin sheath

• sheathe
• heliosheath
• resheath, resheathe
• unsheath, unsheathe

• enPR: shēth, IPA^(key): /ʃiːð/
• Rhymes: -iːð

sheath (third-person singular simple present sheaths, present participle sheathing, simple past and past participle sheathed)

1. To put an object (especially a weapon, in particular, a sword) into its sheath.
   • John Dryden, The Hind and the Panther

     But when his foe lies prostrate on the plain, / He sheaths his paws, uncurls his angry mane, / And pleased with bloodless honours of the day, / Walks over and disdains th' inglorious prey.

• unsheath

• resheath
• resheathe

• sheath in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• sheath in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

• heaths