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sheet¹

(shēt)

1. A thin rectangular piece of fabric for a bed, often used in a pair with one sheet below and one sheet above a person.

a. A broad, thin, usually rectangular mass or piece of material, such as paper, metal, glass, or plywood.

b. A flat or very shallow, usually rectangular pan used for baking.

3. A broad, flat, continuous surface or expanse: a sheet of ice.

4. A moving expanse: a sheet of flames.

5. A newspaper, especially a tabloid.

6. Computers A single page of rows and columns constituting a subunit of a spreadsheet.

7. Geology A broad, relatively thin deposit or layer of igneous or sedimentary rock.

8. A large block of stamps printed by a single impression of a plate before the individual stamps have been separated.

9. Mathematics A surface of revolution generated by revolving a hyperbola about one of its two symmetric axes.

v. sheet·ed, sheet·ing, sheets

v.tr.

1. To cover with, wrap in, or provide with a sheet.

2. To make into sheets.

v.intr.

To flow or fall in a sheet: rain sheeting against the windshield.

adj.

Being in the form of a sheet: sheet aluminum.

[Middle English schete, cloth, from Old English scēte; see skeud- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

sheet²

(shēt) Nautical

1. A rope or chain attached to one or both of the lower corners of a sail, serving to move or extend it.

2. sheets The spaces at either end of an open boat in front of and behind the seats.

intr.v. sheet·ed, sheet·ing, sheets

To extend in a certain direction. Used of the sheets of a sail.

Idiom:

three sheets to/in the wind Informal

Intoxicated; drunk.

[Middle English shete, from Old English scēat(line), sheet (line), from scēata, corner of a sail; see skeud- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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