sheaf

[ sheef ]
See synonyms for: sheafsheaves on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural sheaves.
  1. one of the bundles in which cereal plants, as wheat, rye, etc., are bound after reaping.

  2. any bundle, cluster, or collection: a sheaf of papers.

verb (used with object)
  1. to bind (something) into a sheaf or sheaves.

Origin of sheaf

1
before 900; Middle English shefe (noun), Old English schēaf; cognate with Dutch schoof sheaf, German Schaub wisp of straw, Old Norse skauf tail of a fox

Other words from sheaf

  • sheaflike, adjective

Words Nearby sheaf

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sheaf in a sentence

  • No, I don't have a sheaf of short stories buried in a drawer.

  • In one hand she carried a sheaf of Clinton literature; in the other she was lugging a stack of large yard signs.

    The Boys on the Bus | Ben Crair | November 3, 2008 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Rarely, sodium urate occurs in crystalline form—slender prisms, arranged in fan- or sheaf-like structures (Fig. 32).

    A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
  • A wisp of wheat was knotted round her neck for a necklace, and a perfect sheaf of it in her hair.

  • Ward busied himself with a sheaf of morning mail and miscellaneous police circulars.

  • Her hat was covered with poppies and wild azalea, and she had a sheaf of buttercups and "blue eyes" in her belt.

    Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
  • The two contestants mounted new horses and sat face to face; behind each stood an attendant with the sheaf of reed lances.

    God Wills It! | William Stearns Davis

British Dictionary definitions for sheaf

sheaf

/ (ʃiːf) /


nounplural sheaves (ʃiːvz)
  1. a bundle of reaped but unthreshed corn tied with one or two bonds

  2. a bundle of objects tied together

  1. the arrows contained in a quiver

verb
  1. (tr) to bind or tie into a sheaf

Origin of sheaf

1
Old English sceaf, related to Old High German skoub sheaf, Old Norse skauf tail, Gothic skuft tuft of hair

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012