sheet definition | Dictionary.com

sheet

1 [sheet]

–noun

1.	a large rectangular piece of cotton, linen, or other material used as an article of bedding, commonly spread in pairs so that one is immediately above and the other immediately below the sleeper.

2.	a broad, relatively thin, surface, layer, or covering.

3.	a relatively thin, usually rectangular form, piece, plate, or slab, as of photographic film, glass, metal, etc.

4.	material, as metal or glass, in the form of broad, relatively thin pieces.

5.	a sail, as on a ship or boat.

6.	a rectangular piece of paper or parchment, esp. one on which to write.

7.	a newspaper or periodical.

8.	Printing and Bookbinding. a large, rectangular piece of printing paper, esp. one for printing a complete signature.

9.	Philately. the impression from a plate or the like on a single sheet of paper before any division of the paper into individual stamps.

10.	an extent, stretch, or expanse, as of fire or water: sheets of flame.

11.	a thin, flat piece of metal or a very shallow pan on which to place food while baking.

12.	Geology. a more or less horizontal mass of rock, esp. volcanic rock intruded between strata or poured out over a surface.

13.

Mathematics.

a.	one of the separate pieces making up a geometrical surface: a hyperboloid of two sheets.

b.	one of the planes or pieces of planes making up a Riemann surface.

14.	Crystallography. a type of crystal structure, as in mica, in which certain atoms unite strongly in two dimensions to form a layer that is weakly joined to others.

–verb (used with object)

15.	to furnish with a sheet or sheets.

16.	to wrap in a sheet.

17.	to cover with a sheet or layer of something.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME shete, OE scēte (north), scīete, deriv. of scēat corner, lap, sheet, region; c. D schoot, G Schoss, ON skaut

Related forms:

sheetless, adjective

sheetlike, adjective

Deep Pocket Sheets
Comforters, Sheets, Blankets & More Inside Your Local JCPenney Store
JCPenney.com

All-Cotton Percale Sheets
Browse Through Dozens of Designs Basics to Luxurious & Eco-Friendly

www.TheCompanyStore.com

sheet

2 [sheet]

–noun

Nautical.

a.	a rope or chain for extending the clews of a square sail along a yard.

b.	a rope for trimming a fore-and-aft sail.

c.	a rope or chain for extending the lee clew of a course.

–verb (used with object)

2.	Nautical. to trim, extend, or secure by means of a sheet or sheets.

—Idiom

3.	three sheets in or to the wind, Slang. intoxicated.

Origin:
1300–50; ME shete, shortening of OE scēatlīne, equiv. to scēat(a) lower corner of a sail (see sheet ¹ ) + līne line ¹ , rope; c. LG schote

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source

Link To sheet

sheet¹ (shēt)

A broad rectangular piece of fabric serving as a basic article of bedding.
1. A broad, thin, usually rectangular mass or piece of material, such as paper, metal, glass, or plywood.
2. A flat or very shallow, usually rectangular pan used for baking.
A broad, flat, continuous surface or expanse: a sheet of ice.
A moving expanse: a sheet of flames.
A newspaper, especially a tabloid.
Geology A broad, relatively thin deposit or layer of igneous or sedimentary rock.
A large block of stamps printed by a single impression of a plate before the individual stamps have been separated.
Mathematics A surface of revolution generated by revolving a hyperbola about one of its two symmetric axes.

v. sheet·ed, sheet·ing, sheets

v. tr.

To cover with, wrap in, or provide with a sheet.
To make into sheets.

v. intr.
To flow or fall in a sheet: rain sheeting against the windshield.
adj. Being in the form of a sheet: sheet aluminum.

[Middle English schete, cloth, from Old English scēte; see skeud- in Indo-European roots.]

sheet² (shēt)

A rope or chain attached to one or both of the lower corners of a sail, serving to move or extend it.
sheets The spaces at either end of an open boat in front of and behind the seats.

intr.v. sheet·ed, sheet·ing, sheets
To extend in a certain direction. Used of the sheets of a sail.

[Middle English shete, from Old English scēat(line), sheet (line), from scēata, corner of a sail; see skeud- in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Sheet

Sheet\, n. [OE. shete, schete, AS. sc[=e]te, sc[=y]te, fr. sce['a]t a projecting corner, a fold in a garment (akin to D. schoot sheet, bosom, lap, G. schoss bosom, lap, flap of a coat, Icel. skaut, Goth. skauts the hem of a garment); originally, that which shoots out, from the root of AS. sce['o]tan to shoot. [root]159. See Shoot, v. t.] In general, a large, broad piece of anything thin, as paper, cloth, etc.; a broad, thin portion of any substance; an expanded superficies. Specifically: (a) A broad piece of cloth, usually linen or cotton, used for wrapping the body or for a covering; especially, one used as an article of bedding next to the body.

He fell into a trance, and saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners. --Acts x. 10, 11.

If I do die before thee, prithee, shroud me In one of those same sheets. --Shak. (b) A broad piece of paper, whether folded or unfolded, whether blank or written or printed upon; hence, a letter; a newspaper, etc. (c) A single signature of a book or a pamphlet; in pl., the book itself.

To this the following sheets are intended for a full and distinct answer. --Waterland. (d) A broad, thinly expanded portion of metal or other substance; as, a sheet of copper, of glass, or the like; a plate; a leaf. (e) A broad expanse of water, or the like. "The two beautiful sheets of water." --Macaulay. (f) A sail. --Dryden. (g) (Geol.) An extensive bed of an eruptive rock intruded between, or overlying, other strata.

2. [AS. sce['a]ta. See the Etymology above.] (Naut.) (a) A rope or chain which regulates the angle of adjustment of a sail in relation in relation to the wind; -- usually attached to the lower corner of a sail, or to a yard or a boom. (b) pl. The space in the forward or the after part of a boat where there are no rowers; as, fore sheets; stern sheets.

Note: Sheet is often used adjectively, or in combination, to denote that the substance to the name of which it is prefixed is in the form of sheets, or thin plates or leaves; as, sheet brass, or sheet-brass; sheet glass, or sheet-glass; sheet gold, or sheet-gold; sheet iron, or sheet-iron, etc.

A sheet in the wind, half drunk. [Sailors' Slang]

Both sheets in the wind, very drunk. [Sailors' Slang]

In sheets, lying flat or expanded; not folded, or folded but not bound; -- said especially of printed sheets.

Sheet bend (Naut.), a bend or hitch used for temporarily fastening a rope to the bight of another rope or to an eye.

Sheet lightning, Sheet piling, etc. See under Lightning, Piling, etc.

Sheet

Sheet\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sheeted; p. pr. & vb. n. Sheeting.]

1. To furnish with a sheet or sheets; to wrap in, or cover with, a sheet, or as with a sheet. "The sheeted dead." "When snow the pasture sheets." --Shak.

2. To expand, as a sheet.

The star shot flew from the welkin blue, As it fell from the sheeted sky. --J. R. Drake.

To sheet home (Naut.), to haul upon a sheet until the sail is as flat, and the clew as near the wind, as possible.

Language Translation for : sheet

Spanish: sábana,

German: das Laken,

Japanese: シーツ

More Translations »

sheet (1)

O.E. sciete (W.Saxon), scete (Mercian) "cloth, covering," from P.Gmc. *skautijon, from base *skauta- "project" (cf. O.N. skaut "corner of cloth," Goth. skauts "seam, hem of a garment;" Du. schoot Ger. Schoß "bosom, lap"), from PIE base *skeud- "to shoot, chase, throw" (see shoot). Sense of "piece of paper" first recorded 1510; that of "any broad, flat surface" (of metal, open water, etc.) is from 1592. Of falling rain from 1697. Meaning "a newspaper" is first recorded 1749. Sheet lightning is attested from 1794; sheet music is from 1857. Between the sheets "in bed" (usually with sexual overtones) is attested from 1599; to be white as a sheet is from 1751.

sheet (2)

"rope that controls a sail," O.E. sceatline "sheet-line," from sceata "lower part of sail," originally "piece of cloth," from same root as sheet (1) (q.v.). The sense transferred to the rope by 1294. This is probably the notion in phrase three sheets to the wind "drunk and disorganized," first recorded 1821, an image of a sloop-rigged sailboat whose three sheets have slipped through the blocks are lost to the wind, thus out of control.

Main Entry: sheet
Pronunciation: 'shEt
Function: noun
1 : a broad piece of cloth; especially : an oblong of usually cotton or linencloth used as an article of bedding
2 : a portion of something that is thin in comparison to its length and breadth sheet of connective tissue>

sheet

see three sheets to the wind; white as a sheet.

Search another word or see sheet on Thesaurus | Reference

Sheets from Wards
Find Sheets in a Variety of Sizes, Colors and Fabrics Today.
www.Wards.com

Sheet
Up to 60% off products site wide. Order today for $2.95 shipping.

Overstock.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Advertise with Us · Link to Us · NASCAR® · Contact Us