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| WordWeight : Weighing the Words |
Sheath
Pronunciation : Sheath
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [OE. schethe, AS. sc?edh, sce?edh, sceedh; akin to OS. skeedhia, D. scheede, G. scheide, OHG. sceida, Sw. skida, Dan. skede, Icel. skeiedhir, pl., and to E. shed, v.t., originally meaning, to separate, to part. See Shed.]
Definition : 1. A case for the reception of a sword, hunting knife, or other long and slender instrument; a scabbard. The dead knight's sword out of his sheath he drew. Spenser.
2. Any sheathlike covering, organ, or part. Specifically: (a) (Bot.) The base of a leaf when sheathing or investing a stem or branch, as in grasses. (b) (Zo?l.) One of the elytra of an insect. Medullary sheath. (Anat.) See under Medullary. -- Primitive sheath. (Anat.) See Neurilemma. -- Sheath knife, a knife with a fixed blade, carried in a sheath. -- Sheath of Schwann. (Anat.) See Schwann's sheath.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
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