sleeve
Americannoun
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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:
The commentary highlights growing evidence for endoscopic bariatric and metabolic therapies, including endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty, as effective treatment options for obesity.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 20, 2026
“Uh-oh,” I reply, extracting a Ritz cracker from its sleeve.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
Rather, she said she had approached the woman grabbing items from a shelf and had taken hold of her sleeve.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
But it turned out that general manager Les Snead had yet another trick up his sleeve.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
George pulled back Owen’s torn pant leg and sleeve, and then it was George’s turn to gasp.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
He wears a baseball cap and an oversize brown sweater, tugging on the sleeves while he ponders.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Up front, it was the ideal dry-goods shop: good boxes of fussy pasta and cavatappi, sleeves of biscotti, plastic-wrapped anise pizzelle, a counter where you could order hulking sandwiches and tiny cups of coffee.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
"The second thing that will be different is we will wear our hearts on our sleeves more."
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
Her mother was one of 2,075 brides wearing the “Blessing Dress,” a white polyester and satin gown with puffed sleeves and a modest high neckline.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
The sleeves of her deep red dress were bell-shaped and flowing, the rich fabric embellished with golden trim.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
"In 2026, 1,000 cards are printed, and 800 are opened with care and sleeved straight away."
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026
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
So when the chance to own a cropped T-shirt — short sleeved and charcoal gray with images of wildflowers on the chest — presented itself, she took it.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 24, 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 McMeen, Samuel
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.
