/ ʃiːt; NAmE / noun
ON BED
1.
a large piece of thin cloth used on a bed to lie on or lie under :
Have you changed the sheets (= put clean sheets on the bed) ?
He slid between the sheets and closed his eyes.
—picture at bed
—see also dust sheet
OF PAPER
2.
a piece of paper for writing or printing on, etc. usually in a standard size :
a clean / blank sheet of paper (= with no writing on it)
Pick up one of our free information sheets at reception.
FLAT THIN PIECE
3.
a flat thin piece of any material, normally square or rectangular :
a sheet of glass / steel
sheet metal (= metal that has been made into thin sheets)
Place the dough on a baking sheet (= for cooking sth in an oven) .
WIDE FLAT AREA
4.
a wide flat area of sth, covering the surface of sth else :
The road was covered with a sheet of ice.
OF FIRE / WATER
5.
a large moving mass of fire or water :
a sheet of flame
The rain was coming down in sheets (= very heavily) .
ON SAIL
6.
( technical ) a rope or chain fastened to the lower corner of a sail to hold it and to control the angle of the sail
HELP NOTE : There are other compounds ending sheet . You will find them at their place in the alphabet.
•
IDIOMS
see clean adjective
••
WORD ORIGIN
noun senses 1 to 5 Old English scēte , scīete , of Germanic origin; related to the verb shoot in its primary sense to project .
noun sense 6 Old English scēata lower corner of a sail , of Germanic origin; related to Old Norse skauti kerchief.