three sheets to the wind

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noun

Nautical.

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

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

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

verb (used with object)

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

Idioms

three sheets in/to the wind, Slang. intoxicated.

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English shete, shortening of Old English scēatlīne, equivalent to scēat(a) lower corner of a sail (see sheet¹) + līne line¹, rope; cognate with Low German schote

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins

World English Dictionary

sheet¹ (ʃiːt)

—n
1.	a large rectangular piece of cotton, linen, etc, generally one of a pair used as inner bedclothes
2.	a. a thin piece of a substance such as paper, glass, or metal, usually rectangular in form
	b. (as modifier): sheet iron
3.	a broad continuous surface; expanse or stretch: a sheet of rain
4.	a newspaper, esp a tabloid
5.	a piece of printed paper to be folded into a section for a book
6.	a page of stamps, usually of one denomination and already perforated
7.	any thin tabular mass of rock covering a large area

—vb
8.	(tr) to provide with, cover, or wrap in a sheet
9.	(intr) (of rain, snow, etc) to fall heavily

[Old English sciete; related to sceat corner, lap, Old Norse skaut, Old High German scōz lap]

00:10

Three sheets to the wind is always a great word to know.

So is gobo. Does it mean:

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

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sheet² (ʃiːt)

—n
	nautical a line or rope for controlling the position of a sail relative to the wind

[Old English scēata corner of a sail; related to Middle Low German schōte rope attached to a sail; see sheet¹]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

sheet

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

"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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

three sheets to the wind definition

To be “three sheets to the wind” is to be drunk. The sheet is the line that controls the sails on a ship. If the line is not secured, the sail flops in the wind, and the ship loses headway and control. If all three sails are loose, the ship is out of control.

Slang Dictionary

(rap) sheet definition

n.
a criminal record listing all recorded criminal charges. (See also rap.) : The sergeant asked if there was a sheet on the prisoner.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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three sheets in the wind definition

and three sheets (to the wind); two sheets to the wind

mod.
alcohol intoxicated and unsteady. (Sheets are the ropes used to manage a ship's sails. It is assumed that if these ropes were blowing in the wind, the ship would be unmanageable.) : He was three sheets to the wind and didn't pay attention to my warning.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

three sheets to the wind

Also, three sheets in the wind. Drunk, inebriated, as in After six beers he's three sheets to the wind. This expression is generally thought to refer to the sheetthat is, a rope or chainthat holds one or both lower corners of a sail. If the sheet is allowed to go slack in the wind, the sail flaps about and the boat is tossed about much as a drunk staggers. Having three sheets loose would presumably make the situation all the worse. Another explanation holds that with two or four sheets to the wind the boat is balanced, whereas with three it is not. [Mid-1800s]

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