Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
sleeves from one's vest en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Meanings
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(idiomatic, plural, plural-only) Something non-existent; something of no value or cost.
Of someone stingy he would say, "This guy wouldn't give you the sleeves from his vest."
2006, Richard Sonnenfeldt, Witness to Nuremberg: The Chief American Interpreter at the War Crimes Trials, page 170:"when a prosecutor dismisses some of the charges in a multi-count indictment, he is giving the defendant the sleeves from his vest"
1980, Alvin W. Cohn, Benjamin Ward, Improving Management in Criminal Justice, page 79:"Mr. President," I said, "We don't have anything to deploy so you are giving them the sleeves from your vest.
2003, Ronald Reagan, Kiron K. Skinner, Annelise Graebner Anderson, Martin Anderson, Reagan: A Life in Letters, page xii: