What does "sheet" mean?
A thin bed cloth used as a covering for a mattress or as a layer over the sleeper.
Sheet
/ʃit/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A thin bed cloth used as a covering for a mattress or as a layer over the sleeper.
- Grammar: sheet is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: adjust, afghan, alabaster, area.
- Useful contrasts: block, comforters, duvet.
- Usage evidence: Bring me a sheet of paper, please.
How to use "sheet"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "sheet" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "sheet" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "sheet" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "sheet" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "sheet" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "adjust" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "sheet", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A thin bed cloth used as a covering for a mattress or as a layer over the sleeper.
"Use the sheets in the hall closet to make the bed."
- 2 Euphemistic form of shit. euphemistic, form-of, slang, uncountable
"This sheet is disgusting!"
- 3 a large piece of fabric (usually canvas fabric) by means of which wind is used to propel a sailing vessel wordnet
- 4 A piece of paper, usually rectangular, that has been prepared for writing, artwork, drafting, wrapping, manufacture of packaging (boxes, envelopes, etc.), and for other uses. The word does not include scraps and irregular small pieces destined to be recycled, used for stuffing or cushioning or paper mache, etc. In modern books, each sheet of paper is typically folded in half, to produce two leaves and four pages. In the absence of folding, "leaf" and "sheet" are equivalent.
"A sheet of paper measuring eight and one-half inches wide by eleven inches high is a popular item in commerce."
- 5 bed linen consisting of a large rectangular piece of cotton or linen cloth; used in pairs wordnet
Show 18 more definitions
- 6 A flat metal pan, often without raised edge, used for baking.
"Place the rolls on the cookie sheet, edges touching, and bake for 10-11 minutes."
- 7 (nautical) a line (rope or chain) that regulates the angle at which a sail is set in relation to the wind wordnet
- 8 A thin, flat piece or layer of solid material.
"The glazer cut several panes from a large sheet of glass."
- 9 a flat artifact that is thin relative to its length and width wordnet
- 10 A broad, flat expanse or covering of a material on a surface.
"Mud froze on the road in a solid sheet, then more rain froze into a sheet of ice on top of the mud!"
- 11 paper used for writing or printing wordnet
- 12 An expanse of something.
"[…] heavy sheets of rain with heavy gusts at N.E.; […]"
- 13 newspaper with half-size pages wordnet
- 14 A line (rope) used to adjust the trim of a sail.
"To be "three sheets to the wind" is to say that a four-cornered sail is tethered only by one sheet and thus the sail is useless."
- 15 any broad thin expanse or surface wordnet
- 16 A sail. nonstandard
"Their folded Sheets dismiss the useless Air"
- 17 (mathematics) an unbounded two-dimensional shape wordnet
- 18 The area of ice on which the game of curling is played.
- 19 A layer of veneer. nonstandard
- 20 Precipitation of such quantity and force as to resemble a thin, virtually solid wall. figuratively
- 21 An extensive bed of an eruptive rock intruded between, or overlying, other strata.
- 22 The space in the forward or after part of a boat where there are no rowers.
"fore sheets; stern sheets"
- 23 A distinct level or stage within a game. dated
"The gecko moves from left to right and you must catch him when he calls. […] On the second sheet you must stand under the Gecko in the tree and jump, and on the third sheet you must catch the Gecko's friend."
Verb
- 1 To cover or wrap with cloth, or paper, or other similar material. transitive
"Remember to sheet the floor before you start painting."
- 2 cover with a sheet, as if by wrapping wordnet
- 3 To form into sheets. transitive
- 4 come down as if in sheets wordnet
- 5 To pour heavily. intransitive
"We couldn't go out because the rain was sheeting down all day long."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To trim a sail using a sheet.
Proper Noun
- 1 A village and civil parish in East Hampshire district, Hampshire, England, previously in Petersfield parish (OS grid ref SU7524).
- 2 A small village in Ludford parish, next to Ludlow, Shropshire, England (OS grid ref SO5374).
Antonyms
Example
"Bring me a sheet of paper, please."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "sheet"?
Common synonyms include: adjust, afghan, alabaster, area, article, back matter.
How do you use "sheet" in a sentence?
Bring me a sheet of paper, please.
How do you pronounce "sheet"?
Pronounced /ʃit/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English schete; partly from Old English sċīete (“a sheet, a piece of linen cloth”); partly from Old English sċēata (“a corner, angle; the lower corner of a sail, sheet”); and Old English sċēat (“a corner, angle”); all from Proto-Germanic *skautijǭ, *skautaz (“corner, wedge, lap”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewd- (“to throw, shoot, pursue, rush”). Cognate with North Frisian skut (“the fold of a garment, lap, coattail”), West Frisian skoat (“sheet; sail; lap”), Dutch schoot (“the fold of a garment, lap, sheet”), German Low German Schote (“a line from the foot of a sail”), German Schoß (“the fold of a garment, lap”), Danish skød (“lap, skirt”), Icelandic skaut (“the corner of a cloth, a line from the foot of a sail, the skirt or sleeve of a garment, a hood”), Norwegian skaut (“headdress”), Swedish sköt (“sheet”).
Etymology 2
A minced oath of shit.
Etymology 3
From Old English sceat (“corner”).