Dictionary

sleave en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /sliːv/

Etymology

Compare Danish slöife, a loose knot, Swedish slejf (“a knot of ribbon”), German Schleife (“a loop”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The knotted or entangled part of silk or thread.
2. (countable, uncountable) Silk not yet twisted; floss.
   • Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care. c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

Forms

sleave en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /sliːv/

Etymology

Compare Danish slöife, a loose knot, Swedish slejf (“a knot of ribbon”), German Schleife (“a loop”).

Meanings

1. To separate, as threads; to divide, as a collection of threads.

Forms

Synonyms

sley