shirt-sleeve

or shirt·sleeve, shirt-sleeved, shirt-sleeves

[ shurt-sleev ]

/ ˈʃɜrtˌsliv /

adjective

not wearing a jacket; informally dressed: a shirt-sleeve mob.

warm enough to live or work in without wearing a jacket or coat: shirt-sleeve weather in November.

simple, plain, and informal; direct and straightforward in approach, manner, etc.: shirt-sleeve diplomacy.

Words nearby shirt-sleeve

shirt, shirt front, shirt jacket, shirt-dress, shirt-lifter, shirt-sleeve, shirt-stud abscess, shirt-tail, shirtband, shirtdress, shirting

Origin of shirt-sleeve

First recorded in 1560–70

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for shirtsleeve

"Running isn't much in my line," he panted, as he wiped his fat, freckled face on his shirtsleeve.
Aunt 'Liza's Hero and Other Stories|Annie Fellows Johnston
He stopped and swabbed his streaming face with a shirtsleeve—he now was carrying his coat.
Dust of the Desert|Robert Welles Ritchie
Miss Eyester flipped a bit of plaster from his shirtsleeve with her thumb and finger.
The Dude Wrangler|Caroline Lockhart
Own wife, the coat does not crock the shirtsleeve in the least—so thy labor in lining it would have been thrown away.
Love Letters of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Volume 2 of 2|Nathaniel Hawthorne

The man wiped the tears from his eyes with his shirtsleeve, smearing the red brick dust with which it was powdered, over his face.
The Honorable Peter Stirling and What People Thought of Him|Paul Leicester Ford

British Dictionary definitions for shirtsleeve

shirtsleeve

/ (ˈʃɜːtˌsliːv) /

noun

the sleeve of a shirt

in one's shirtsleeves not wearing a jacket

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