Dictionary

sley en · NOUN

From Middle English slay, from Old English slege.

Reed (of a loom).
A guideway in a knitting machine.
The number of warp ends per inch in the cloth.
- An extreme draft is not desirable in the spinning of filling yarns either on a frame or mule, although yarn from the latter machines is usually spun from coarser roving than would be possible on a filling frame, and it would seem preferable to spin same from roving with a medium draft, or, from double roving, and particularly so for fine sheetings, cambrics and other styles of cloth, that require finer filling than the warp and which have a higher count or pick, than sley. 1903 December, “The Adjustment of Cotton Preparing and Spinning Machinery”, in Textile World, volume 26, number 3, page 125:

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
sleys	Number=Plur		lexicographic

From Middle English slay, from Old English slege.

(transitive) To separate or part warp threads and arrange them in a reed.
- Centering for a weaving width of 15 7/15", sley 2 ends per dent in a 15-dent reed, or centering for a width of 15 5/10", sley 3 ends per dent in a 10-dent reed. 2026, Shelby Moravec, “Flight of the Dragonflies Scarf”, in Handwoven, volume XLVII, number 1, page 28:

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
sleyed	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part		lexicographic
sleyed	Tense=Past		lexicographic
sleys	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres		lexicographic
slay		alternative	lexicographic
sleying	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part		lexicographic