sleeve
/sliv/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.93 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
noun
A long, cylindrical plastic bag of cookies or crackers, or a similar package of disposable drinking cups.
American usage
Example Sentences
- "The sleeves on my coat are too long."
- "This bearing requires a sleeve so the shaft will fit snugly."
- "Even from Southhampton ' s shore through Wilts and Somerset The Attrebates in Bark unto the bank of Tames Betwixt the Celtic sleeve and the Sabrinian streams"
- "For example, you may serve a patron a 12 oz sleeve of beer and a 5 oz glass of wine (or alternately 1.5 oz spirits) at the same time."
- "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."
- "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."
Etymology
From Middle English sleve, slefe, from Old English slīef and slīefe (“sleeve”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Sleeuwe (“sleeve”), West Frisian slúf, Dutch sloof (“apron”), Low German sluve, dialectal German Schlaube. The Canadian sense of “measure smaller than a pint” is due to a former conflict between federal law and provincial law in British Columbia. According to federal law, a pint must be 20 imperial ounces (~568 ml), but according to provincial law at the time, the maximum individual serving size was 500 ml, so an individual portion could not be called a “pint” in British Columbia, and required a different term. The provincial law has been changed, allowing servings of up to 24 oz (~682 ml), but the term remains in use. The term sleeve itself for a cylindrical glass of beer is also found in the UK and Australia (as sleever), and may be due to stacked glasses resembling a sleeve.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: sleve, slīef
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /sliv/
- British English: /sliːv/
Usage
- American usage
- Transitive verb