shirt-sleeve
or shirt·sleeve, shirt-sleeved, shirt-sleeves
[shurt-sleev]
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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.
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
Historical Examples of shirtsleeve
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 2Nathaniel 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 HimPaul Leicester Ford
Miss Eyester flipped a bit of plaster from his shirtsleeve with her thumb and finger.
The Dude WranglerCaroline Lockhart
He stopped and swabbed his streaming face with a shirtsleeve—he now was carrying his coat.
Dust of the DesertRobert Welles Ritchie
The negro presently dropped his ax, sat down on the log, and wiped his forehead with his shirtsleeve.
Si Klegg, Book 2 (of 6)John McElroy
shirtsleeve
noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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