sheaf

[sheef]

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.

sheaf

/ ʃiːf /

noun

1. a bundle of reaped but unthreshed corn tied with one or two bonds

2. a bundle of objects tied together

3. the arrows contained in a quiver

verb

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

Other Word Forms

• sheaflike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sheaf¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of sheaf¹

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

Example Sentences

He grabbed the sheaf of papers he had been working on earlier and shoved them into Edward Ashton’s hands.

Read more on Literature

Perhaps it had been lost in a comical mix-up involving two identical sheaves of paper, in which Penelope’s notes were mistakenly swapped for, say, a collection of soup recipes.

Read more on Literature

Same story in Lombok, Indonesia, where cars floated like buoys, and in eastern China, where an inland typhoon-like storm sent furniture blowing down the streets like so many sheafs of paper.

Read more on Salon

A sheaf of proposals to raise costs for Obamacare enrollees comes under the anodyne heading, “Reimagining the Affordable Care Act.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Yehorov, pulling a sheaf of stage notes from his pocket, dropped a container of toothpicks that hit the floor and scattered everywhere.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• assemblage 
• assortment 
• band 
• batch 
• bevy 
• bundle 
• chunk 
• cluster 
• crew 
• crowd 
• flock 
• gang 
• group 
• lot 
• mess 
• mob 
• multitude 
• number 
• pack 
• pile