Refine this word faster

Stronger alternatives Opposite tone Use in context Cross-language nuance

Sheathe

//ʃiːð// verb

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To put (something such as a knife or sword) into a sheath. transitive

    "Sheath your Dagger: / Be angry when you will, it ſhall haue ſcope: […]"

  2. 2
    plunge or bury (a knife or sword) in flesh wordnet
  3. 3
    To encase (something) with a protective covering. transitive

    "A chearful heart does good like a medicine, but envy corrodes like a poiſon; it is ſo ſharp, that it cuts the body which ſheathes it."

  4. 4
    enclose with a sheath wordnet
  5. 5
    Of an animal: to draw back or retract (a body part) into the body, such as claws into a paw. transitive

    "So when the gen'rous Lyon has in ſight / His equal match, he rouſes for the fight; / But when his foe lyes proſtrate on the plain, / He ſheaths his paws, uncurls his angry mane; / And, plea'd with bloudleſs honours of the day, / Walks over, and diſdains th' inglorious Prey, […]"

Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    cover with a protective sheathing wordnet
  2. 7
    To thrust (a sharp object like a sword, a claw, or a tusk) into something. dated, figuratively, literary, poetic, transitive

    "And nuzzling in his flank, the loving swine / Sheathed unaware the tusk in his soft groin."

  3. 8
    To abandon or cease (animosity, etc.) figuratively, obsolete, rare, transitive

    "Let him die, but firſt ſheth your impatience, throw cold water on your collor, […]"

  4. 9
    To provide (a sword, etc.) with a sheath. obsolete, transitive

    "Nathaniels coate ſir was not fully made, / And Gabrels pumpes were all vnpinkt i'th heele: / There was no Linke to colour Peters hat, / And Walters dagger was not come from ſheathing: […]"

  5. 10
    To relieve the harsh or painful effect of (a drug, a poison, etc.). obsolete, transitive

    "[page 540] Theſe ſmooth and oily Med'cines act by ſheathing acrimonious Salts in the Blood, and preventing Inconveniences from 'em; and by relaxing the Fibres, and hence widening 'em. […] [page 541] [They] are convenient in Coughs, from thin and ſharp Rheums, becauſe they ſheathe the Salts that gall the Lungs."

Etymology

From Late Middle English shethen (“to put (a sword or knife) into a sheath, sheathe; to provide with a sheath; (figuratively) to have sexual intercourse”) [and other forms], then: * probably from Old English *scēaþian; or * possibly from Middle English sheth, shethe (“holder for a sword, knife, etc., scabbard, sheath”) [and other forms] + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs). Sheth(e) is derived from Old English sċēaþ (“sheath”), from Proto-West Germanic *skaiþiju, from Proto-Germanic *skaiþiz (“sheath; covering”), from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to dissect, split”) (possibly from the notion of a split stick with a sword inserted).

See also for "sheathe"

Synonyms Antonyms Rhymes Sentences Translate Word Type Pronunciation Word Forms

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciation

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: sheathe