I. ˈshēt noun
Etymology: Middle English shete, from Old English scēte, scīete; akin to Old English scēat edge, Old High German scōz flap, skirt
Date: before 12th century
1.
a. : a broad piece of cloth ; especially : bedsheet
b. : sail 1a(1)
2.
a.
(1) : a usually rectangular piece of paper ; especially : one manufactured for printing
(2) : a rectangular piece of heavy paper with a plant specimen mounted on it
an herbarium of 100,000 sheet s
b. : a printed signature for a book especially before it has been folded, cut, or bound — usually used in plural
c. : a newspaper, periodical, or occasional publication
a gossip sheet
d. : the unseparated postage stamps printed by one impression of a plate on a single piece of paper ; also : a pane of stamps
3. : a broad stretch or surface of something
a sheet of ice
4. : a suspended or moving expanse (as of fire or rain)
5.
a. : a portion of something that is thin in comparison to its length and breadth
b. : a flat baking pan of tinned metal
a cookie sheet
6. : a surface or part of a surface in which it is possible to pass from any one point of it to any other without leaving the surface
a hyperboloid of two sheet s
• sheet·like -ˌlīk adjective
II. adjective
Date: 1582
1. : rolled or spread out in a sheet
2. : of, relating to, or concerned with the making of sheet metal
III. verb
Date: 1606
transitive verb
1. : to cover with a sheet
floors sheet ed with dust
2. : to furnish with sheets
3. : to form into sheets
intransitive verb
: to fall, spread, or flow in a sheet
the rain sheet ed against the windows
• sheet·er noun
IV. noun
Etymology: Middle English shete, from Old English scēata lower corner of a sail; akin to Old English scȳte sheet
Date: 13th century
1. : a rope or chain that regulates the angle at which a sail is set in relation to the wind
2. plural : the spaces at either end of an open boat not occupied by thwarts : foresheets and stern sheets together
•
- three sheets in the wind
V. transitive verb
Date: 1925
: to move or set (a sail) by manipulation of a sheet
•
- sheet home