I. ˈshēt, usu -ēd.+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English shete, from Old English scēte, scȳte; akin to Old English scēat corner, region, napkin, fold, lap, Old High German scōz coattail, lap, bosom, Old Norse skaut corner, coattail, bosom, sheet (rope regulating a sail), Gothic skaut edge (of a garment), Old English scēotan to shoot — more at shoot
1.
a. : a piece of cloth (as a towel or napkin) — obs. except in specific applications
b. : winding-sheet
c. : an oblong of usually linen or cotton cloth used in pairs as an article of bedding and placed one immediately under and one immediately over the person
fresh sheets each week
d. : a piece of cloth used as a covering or wrapping (as for a horse) ; especially : dust cover 1
e. : sail 1
2. : a usually oblong or square piece of paper especially in one of the various sizes in which paper is made according to the uses to which it is to be put
brown wrapping paper in separate sheets
box of writing paper containing 24 sheets and 12 envelopes
500- sheet roll of toilet paper
as
a. : a piece of paper of a size suitable for printing especially of books or other matter of which the page is a subdivision of a larger area — often distinguished from reel and web ; compare signature
b. : a printed signature for a book especially before it has been folded, cut, or bound — usually used in plural
a book in sheets
c. : a piece of paper comprising one unit of a larger printed whole
a poster in 24 sheets
d. : a newspaper, periodical, or occasional publication ; often : one of a scandalous or scurrilous nature
a hate sheet
a scandal sheet
e. : printed or duplicated matter for reference or instruction (as in an office, shop, or factory) and often in pamphlet form
an 8vo style sheet of 64 pages
f.
(1) : the unseparated postage stamps printed by one impression of a plate on a single piece of paper
(2) : a quarter or half section of a sheet of stamps : pane — called also post-office sheet
(3) : one of the primary sections into which a reel of stamps printed by a rotary press is cut for shipment to post offices : miniature sheet , souvenir sheet
3.
a. : a broad stretch or surface of something that is usually thin in comparison to its length and breadth or that presents a white, bright, or glistening surface
hills covered with a sheet of ice
whole sheets of daisies deck the meadows
a broad sheet of hardened lava
b. : the expanse of ice on which a curling match is played
4.
a. : a suspended or moving expanse (as of fire, lightning, rain, or mist)
rain came down in sheets
sheets of flame and smoke were driven by the wind
a sheet of fog rolled in from the sea
b. : a thin flat current of compressed air striking the lip of a flue pipe in a pipe organ
5. : a broad thinly expanded portion of metal or other substance: as
a. : a plate forming part of a tank or boiler regardless of thickness
b. : a portion of metal less than about a quarter or sometimes an eighth of an inch in thickness — distinguished from plate ; compare leaf 2d(2)
c. : sheet rubber
d.
(1) : a large shallow baking pan ; especially : a flat baking utensil of tinned metal usually with a lip on the front edge for handling — see cookie sheet
(2) : cake or bread baked in one piece in a large shallow pan
a sheet of gingerbread
6. : all of a surface so connected that it is possible to pass from any one point of it to any other without leaving the surface
•
- between the sheets
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1.
a. : to wrap in a sheet : cover with or as if with a sheet : shroud
floors sheeted with dust
b. : to cover in a sheet or layer
mist sheets the valleys
2. : to furnish (as a bed) with sheets
a freshly- sheeted couch
3. : to form into sheets: as
a. : to convert rubber to sheet form by calendering
b.
(1) : to cut (a roll of paper) into sheets
(2) : to run (pulp) into a sheet (as on a paper machine)
4. : slip-sheet
intransitive verb
1. : to fall, spread, or flow in or as if in a sheet
fog sheeting in from the sea
2. : to partially set and slip from a spoon in a sheet when poured after slight cooling — used of a test sample of jelly taken from a boiling mass
bottle the jelly as soon as it sheets
III. adjective
1. : rolled or spread out in a sheet
sheet copper
2. : of, relating to, or concerned with the making of sheet metal
a sheet mill
sheet rollers
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English shete, from Old English scēata corner, lap, lower corner of a sail; akin to Middle Low German schōte sheet (rope regulating a sail), Old English scēat corner, lap — more at sheet I
1. : a rope or chain that regulates the angle at which a sail is set in relation to the wind — see mainsheet , weather sheet ; compare tack ; see sail illustration
2. sheets plural : the spaces at either end of an open boat not occupied by thwarts : foresheets and stern sheets together
•
- sheet in the wind
V. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: sheet home 1
VI. noun
( -s )
Etymology: by shortening
: sheet anchor