sheath

Pluralsheaths

1. 1
   sword casenouncountable

   A case for holding a sword; a scabbard.

   She drew the blade from its sheath in a single smooth motion.

   The museum displays the general's saber in its original brass sheath.

   Similarscabbard

   Note

   The original meaning, inherited from Old English scēaþ, and the one the others grow from: each later sense is a case or wrapping that fits closely around something long. Even in Middle English the word held a knife as readily as a sword, so a sheath has never been only a soldier's equipment.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   Any case or covering shaped like a scabbard that holds an object longer than it is wide.

   The axe ships with a nylon sheath that snaps over the blade.

   Before each use, the technician slides the probe into a sterile sheath.

   Similarcase, casing, cover, covering

3. 3
   tight dressnouncountable

   A dress that fits closely to the body.

   For the gala she wore a silk sheath that skimmed her figure.

   The designer's spring collection featured sleeveless sheaths in bright colors.

   Note

   A dressmaker's word for a cut that follows the body from shoulder to hem, shaped with darts or seams rather than gathers, so it has none of the fullness of a flared skirt. It is as common before another noun as on its own: a sheath dress, a sheath silhouette.

4. 4
   cable covernouncountable

   The outer layer of insulation that encloses and protects an electrical cable.

   Strip about an inch of the sheath before connecting the wires to the terminal.

   Years of sunlight had left the cable's outer sheath brittle and split.

   Similarjacket, insulation, casing

   Note

   On a cable it is the outermost layer, wrapped around conductors that usually carry insulation of their own, so an electrician strips the sheath first and each wire's insulation second. Its material is chosen to stand up to heat, oil, sunlight or water, and the same layer is also called the jacket.

5. 5
   leaf basenouncountable

   In botany, the base of a leaf where it wraps around or encloses a stem or branch, as in grasses.

   Peeling back the sheath of a grass leaf reveals the jointed stem underneath.

   The botanist noted that the sheath was hairy where it met the blade.

   Note

   Grass leaves come in two parts: a flat blade that spreads away from the plant and a sheath that wraps the stem below it. Where the two meet there is often a thin membrane or a fringe of hairs, the ligule, one of the features botanists use to tell grass species apart.

6. 6
   condomnouncolloquialBritishcountable

   A condom.

   The family-planning nurse explained how to put on a sheath correctly.

   He nipped into the chemist's for a packet of sheaths.

   Similarcondom, rubber

   Note

   This is a British word and an informal one, at home in conversation and on a chemist's shelf, as in a packet of sheaths. In formal writing, and for readers outside Britain, condom is the clearer choice.

7. 7
   animal foreskinnouncountable

   The foreskin of certain animals, such as dogs and horses.

   Geldings often need their sheaths cleaned to remove built-up dirt and wax.

   A swollen sheath in a dog can be a sign of infection.

   Similarforeskin, prepuce

   Note

   Horse owners and vets talk about cleaning the sheath, because dirt and a waxy buildup collect inside it, especially in geldings. In anatomy the more formal term for the same fold is the prepuce; sheath is the everyday word among people who keep horses and dogs.

8. 8
   beetle wingnouncountable

   One of the elytra of an insect: the hardened front wings that cover the hind wings, as in beetles.

   The beetle raised both sheaths and unfolded the delicate wings beneath.

   Each sheath of the jewel beetle shimmers green and gold.

   Similarelytron

   Note

   Beetles carry these as hardened front wings: at rest the pair meet in a straight line down the back, and in flight they are lifted aside while the thin hind wings do most of the work. Elytron is the technical singular and elytra the plural; wing sheath is the plain-English name.

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