Definitions for: Sheath


[n] a dress suitable for formal occasions
[n] a protective covering for a knife or sword
[n] an enveloping structure or covering enclosing an animal or plant organ or part



Webster (1913) Definition: Sheath, n. [OE. schethe, AS. sc[=ae][eth],
sce['a][eth], sc[=e][eth]; akin to OS. sk[=e][eth]ia, D.
scheede, G. scheide, OHG. sceida, Sw. skida, Dan. skede,
Icel. skei[eth]ir, pl., and to E. shed, v.t., originally
meaning, to separate, to part. See Shed.]
1. A case for the reception of a sword, hunting knife, or
other long and slender instrument; a scabbard.

The dead knight's sword out of his sheath he drew.
--Spenser.

2. Any sheathlike covering, organ, or part. Specifically:
(a) (Bot.) The base of a leaf when sheathing or investing
a stem or branch, as in grasses.
(b) (Zo["o]l.) One of the elytra of an insect.

Medullary sheath. (Anat.) See under Medullary.

Primitive sheath. (Anat.) See Neurilemma.

Sheath knife, a knife with a fixed blade, carried in a
sheath.

Sheath of Schwann. (Anat.) See Schwann's sheath.

Synonyms: case, cocktail dress

See Also: aglet, aiglet, cot, cover, covering, dress, fingerstall, frock, holster, husk, lorica, medullary sheath, myelin sheath, natural covering, neurilemma, neurolemma, protection, protective cover, protective covering, scabbard, theca

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