sleeve

American  

[sleev] / sliv /

noun

1. the part of a garment that covers the arm, varying in form and length but commonly tubular.

2. a protective container, usually thin and flexible with an opening on one side for insertion or removal of an item, as a paper storage envelope for a phonograph record, or a padded case for a tablet or other electronic device: a 24-sleeve CD wallet.

   a form-fitting laptop sleeve;

   a 24-sleeve CD wallet.

3. a pliable tubular or rectangular container for crackers, cookies, and the like that is typically opened at one end to remove individual servings: The largest box has four sleeves of saltines inside.

   I ate a whole sleeve of shortbreads before I realized how many calories that is!

   The largest box has four sleeves of saltines inside.

4. Machinery. a tubular piece, as of metal, fitting over a rod or the like.

5. a pattern of tattoos that covers the arm from shoulder to wrist in one integrated piece of tattoo art.

   I got my first tattoo when I turned 18, and by 28 I had full sleeves on both arms.

---

verb (used with object)

sleeved, sleeving

1. to furnish with sleeves.

2. Machinery. to fit with a sleeve; join or fasten by means of a sleeve.

idioms

1. have something up one's sleeve, to have a secret plan, scheme, opinion, or the like.

   I could tell by her sly look that she had something up her sleeve.

2. laugh up / in one's sleeve, to be secretly amused or contemptuous; laugh inwardly.

   to laugh up one's sleeve at someone's affectations.

sleeve British  

/ sliːv /

noun

1. the part of a garment covering the arm

2. a tubular piece that is forced or shrunk into a cylindrical bore to reduce the diameter of the bore or to line it with a different material; liner

3. a tube fitted externally over two cylindrical parts in order to join them; bush

4. US name: jacket.  a flat cardboard or plastic container to protect a gramophone record

5. to prepare oneself for work, a fight, etc

6. secretly ready

---

verb

1. (tr) to provide with a sleeve or sleeves

sleeve More Idioms  

1. see card up one's sleeve; laugh up one's sleeve; roll up one's sleeves; wear one's heart on one's sleeve.

---

Other Word Forms

• sleeveless adjective
• sleevelike adjective
• unsleeved adjective

Etymology

Origin of sleeve

First recorded before 950; Middle English sleve, slieve, Old English slēfe (Anglian), slīefe; akin to Dutch sloof “apron”

Example Sentences

He was warm in long sleeves, which he took to wearing after wiping out in short sleeves a week ago and “getting cut up.”

From Los Angeles Times

"So it was really about, 'Are you ready to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in?' And he very much was," said Mr Clarke.

From BBC

"I can't give anything away, but I do have a couple of white rabbits up my sleeve."

From BBC

Ben Platt wears both his nervous diffidence and his blazing talent on his sleeve.

From Los Angeles Times

Tuchel, of course, has another world-class ace up his sleeve too in Bellingham, who scored one and set up another against Madrid's Clasico rivals Barcelona at the end of October.

From BBC