sley

Pluralsleys

Formssleys, sleying, sleyed

1. 1
   nouncountable

   The reed of a loom, the comb-like part that spaces the warp threads and beats each new weft thread into place.

   She slid every warp end through its own gap in the sley.

   When the sley swung forward, it packed the weft tight against the woven edge.

   Similarreed

   Note

   The loom part the rest of the word is built around, from Middle English slay and Old English slege. Weavers call the gaps between its wires dents. Each thread of weft it beats in is a pick, and it presses that pick against the fell, the woven edge. Both the threading verb and the warp-density measure describe what happens in this comb.

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To separate the warp threads and arrange them in order through the reed of a loom.

   The apprentice learned to sley the warp ends two at a time through the reed.

   Before weaving the linen, they sley the threads in the order marked on the draft.

   Similarthread

   Note

   One of the steps of dressing a loom, and it happens before any weaving starts. The warp ends are drawn in a planned order through the dents of the comb-like reed, and that order fixes the thread density. The verb is transitive and takes the warp or its threads as its object. Its forms are regular and keep the -ey spelling: sleys, sleying, sleyed.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   The number of warp threads packed into each inch of the woven cloth.

   A fine shirting cloth needs a high sley to keep the weave dense.

   The pattern called for a sley of sixty ends per inch.

   Similarsett

   Note

   A specification figure rather than a part of the loom. Because it counts warp ends per inch, it is quoted as a number: a sley of sixty, a high sley. Sett is sometimes used for the same count. Paired with picks per inch, it decides how close and how heavy the finished cloth will be.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A guiding track or channel inside a knitting machine along which a moving part travels.

   A worn sley caused the carriage to stick halfway across the bed.

   The technician oiled the sley so the parts would glide freely.

   Similartrack, channel, groove

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