sleeve
Americannoun
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sleeves
plural
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the part of a garment that covers the arm, varying in form and length but commonly tubular.
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a protective container, usually thin and flexible with an opening on one side for insertion or removal of an item, as a paper storage envelope for a phonograph record, or a padded case for a tablet or other electronic device: a 24-sleeve CD wallet.
a form-fitting laptop sleeve;
a 24-sleeve CD wallet.
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a pliable tubular or rectangular container for crackers, cookies, and the like that is typically opened at one end to remove individual servings: The largest box has four sleeves of saltines inside.
I ate a whole sleeve of shortbreads before I realized how many calories that is!
The largest box has four sleeves of saltines inside.
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Machinery. a tubular piece, as of metal, fitting over a rod or the like.
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a pattern of tattoos that covers the arm from shoulder to wrist in one integrated piece of tattoo art.
I got my first tattoo when I turned 18, and by 28 I had full sleeves on both arms.
verb (used with object)
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to furnish with sleeves.
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Machinery. to fit with a sleeve; join or fasten by means of a sleeve.
idioms
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have something up one's sleeve, to have a secret plan, scheme, opinion, or the like.
I could tell by her sly look that she had something up her sleeve.
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laugh up / in one's sleeve, to be secretly amused or contemptuous; laugh inwardly.
to laugh up one's sleeve at someone's affectations.
noun
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the part of a garment covering the arm
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a tubular piece that is forced or shrunk into a cylindrical bore to reduce the diameter of the bore or to line it with a different material; liner
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a tube fitted externally over two cylindrical parts in order to join them; bush
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US name: jacket. a flat cardboard or plastic container to protect a gramophone record
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to prepare oneself for work, a fight, etc
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secretly ready
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of sleeve
First recorded before 950; Middle English sleve, slieve, Old English slēfe (Anglian), slīefe; akin to Dutch sloof “apron”
Explanation
The part of your clothing that covers your arm (or part of your arm) is a sleeve. Some t-shirts have long sleeves, others have short sleeves, and your tank top doesn't have any sleeves at all. On a hot day, you might roll up the sleeves of your shirt, or you might change into one with short sleeves (or no sleeves at all, also known as sleeveless). Another kind of sleeve is a container or protective covering, like a record sleeve or a sleeve of crackers. If you have something "up your sleeve," it means you're hiding something to use later in a surprising way.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They took your coat at the door and are handing it back one sleeve a quarter.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Caland worked constantly: on stretched canvas, on fabric folded in her lap, on a children’s menu, on the wall of her kitchen, or the sleeve of her smock.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Dingler said his clients typically set up new GRATs quarterly using the most “aggressive sleeve of their portfolio” to fund them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
The photos published by TMZ also show Thornton, who is wearing a black jacket embroidered with the “Wheel of Fortune” logo on his sleeve, appearing to type into the chat room.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Penelope stretched out her arm and offered the sleeve of her new dress as an example.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Lanky, with sleeves of tattoos that extend to his neck and wrists, he cuts a striking figure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
The actress marked the occasion by donning a stunning lace Schiaparelli gown featuring long sleeves and a high neckline.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
We did not make a great start and I had to roll my sleeves up and get on with what I'd got in my squad, and really focus on getting results.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
He rolls up his sleeves, says a colleague, negotiating boiler repairs and driving six hours round-trip to close a deal to earn $12,000 a year in rent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
Her black shirt was a much thinner material than her pants and barely had any sleeves.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
Not that he’s got a dearth of it; he’s been creating nearly a “postcard” a day for 30 years, and now has thousands of carefully curated pieces in archival sleeved books.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2025
The doll is dressed is a puff sleeved frock adorned with butterflies and flowers in yellow and blue - colours associated with Down’s syndrome awareness.
From Reuters ● Apr. 25, 2023
"I mostly wear jumpers and long sleeved blouses or longer dresses from there," the 23-year-old says.
From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2023
Eventually, the noise became such that he could not continue as normal, so James raised a sleeved right arm in recognition and the roar from the crowd grew in kind.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 19, 2022
It was a gay light comedy, and Kay Francis wore long- sleeved white silk shirts with big cuff links.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
At the Safa Recycling and Material Processing company, workers shovel wiring from electronics and electrical cables into a $220,000 grinding machine that shreds copper cables and separates them from their plastic sleeving.
From Nature ● Nov. 29, 2016
When these wires are adjacent to ground or battery wires they may be protected by sleeving, so as to prevent crosses.
From Cyclopedia of Telephony and Telegraphy, Vol. 2 A General Reference Work on Telephony, etc. etc. by Samuel McMeen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
