sheathing

American  

[shee-thing] / ˈʃi ðɪŋ /

noun

1. the act of a person who sheathes.

2. something that sheathes; a covering or outer layer of metal, wood, or other material, as one of metal plates on a ship's bottom, the first covering of boards on a house, etc.

3. material for forming any such covering.

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sheathing British  

/ ˈʃiːðɪŋ /

noun

1. any material used as an outer layer, as on a ship's hull

2. boarding, etc, used to cover the wall studding or roof joists of a timber frame

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Other Word Forms

• undersheathing noun

Etymology

Origin of sheathing

First recorded in 1490–1500; sheathe + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Some of the crucial work done at Bell Labs might now seem mundane: for example, how to fabricate sheathing so undersea cables wouldn’t be chewed through by Toredo worms.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026

A graduate of music videos, Saxon — like the Gondrys and Jonzes before him — excels at sheathing his yarn in idiosyncratic humor, atmosphere and technique.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2025

Nicholson & Galloway, an exterior restoration contractor experienced with historical domes, repaired cracks in tiles, patched concrete, then layered on new protective materials: a hand-troweled vapor barrier, spray foam insulation, stainless-steel framing, plywood sheathing.

From New York Times • Dec. 22, 2022

One of Epstein-Barr’s proteins resembles a protein made in the brain and spinal cord, which apparently tricks the immune system into attacking the sheathing around nerve cells that’s essential for conducting electrical signals.

From Science Magazine • Dec. 14, 2022

When they came upon the iron bars and the distinctive copper sheathing that was also mentioned in the documents they had studied, they knew they had found the São José.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

Related Words

• bark
• coating
• crust
• fur
• husk
• jacket
• membrane
• rind
• sheath
• surface