sleave

[ sleev ]

verb (used with object),sleaved, sleav·ing.

to divide or separate into filaments, as silk.

noun

anything matted or raveled.
a filament of silk obtained by separating a thicker thread.

a silk in the form of such filaments.

Origin of sleave

1585–95; Old English -slǣfan (only in the compound tōslǣfan), akin to slīfan to split; see sliver

Other words from sleave

un·sleaved, adjective

Words Nearby sleave

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use sleave in a sentence

“I love you—I love you—” until at last sleep helped to knit up the ravelled sleave of care.
Olive in Italy | Moray Dalton
The Italian form is sciamito, "a kind of sleave, feret, or filosello silke" (Florio).
The Romance of Words (4th ed.) | Ernest Weekley

British Dictionary definitions for sleave

sleave

/ (sliːv) /

noun

a tangled thread
a thin filament unravelled from a thicker thread

mainly poetic anything matted or complicated

verb

to disentangle (twisted thread, etc)

Origin of sleave

Old English slǣfan to divide; related to Middle Low German slēf, Norwegian sleiv big spoon

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

Browse