sleeve

From Middle English sleve, from Old English slīef. Cognate to Dutch sloof, Saterland Frisian Sleeuwe (“sleeve”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /sliːv/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

sleeve (plural sleeves)

1. The part of a garment that covers the arm. [from 10th c.]

   The sleeves on my coat are too long.

2. A (usually tubular) covering or lining to protect a piece of machinery etc. [from 19th c.]

   This bearing requires a sleeve so the shaft will fit snugly.

3. A protective jacket or case, especially for a record, containing art and information about the contents; also the analogous leaflet found in a packaged CD. [from 20th c.]
4. A tattoo covering the whole arm.
5. A narrow channel of water.
   • Drayton

     the Celtic Sea, called oftentimes the Sleeve

6. sleave; untwisted thread.
7. (British Columbia) A serving of beer measuring between 14 and 16 ounces.
8. (US) A long, cylindrical plastic bag of cookies or crackers.
   • 2012, Half A Sleeve Of Oreos Lost In House Fire", The Onion, May 5, 2012:

     A three-alarm fire tore through a family home on Newark's East Side early Saturday morning, completely gutting the two-story residence and tragically claiming a half-sleeve of Oreo cookies that was trapped inside a cupboard.

9. (electrical) A double tube of copper into which the ends of bare wires are pushed so that when the tube is twisted an electrical connection is made. The joint thus made is called a McIntire joint.

sleeve (third-person singular simple present sleeves, present participle sleeving, simple past and past participle sleeved)

1. (transitive) To fit a sleeve to
2. (magic tricks) To hide something up one's sleeve.
   • 2006, J. B. Bobo, Modern Coin Magic, →ISBN, page 99:

     There are certain types of sleeving that are difficult to perform with the shirt sleeves down, and it is difficult and risky to attempt sleeving while wearing a shirt with "French" cuffs.

• raglan
• thimble

• Sleeve in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

• levees