Sheer"wa`ter (?), n. (Zoöl.) The shearwater.
Sheet (?), n. [OE. shete, schete, AS. scte, scte, fr. sceát a
projecting corner, a fold in a garment (akin to D. schoot sheet, bosom,
lap, G. schoss bosom, lap, flap of a coat, Icel. skaut, Goth. skauts
the hem of a garment); originally, that which shoots out, from the root
of AS. sceótan to shoot. √159. See Shoot, v. t.] In general, a
large, broad piece of anything thin, as paper, cloth, etc.; a broad,
thin portion of any substance; an expanded superficies. Specifically:
(a) A broad piece of cloth, usually linen or cotton, used for wrapping
the body or for a covering; especially, one used as an article of
bedding next to the body.
He fell into a trance, and saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel
descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four
corners.
Acts x. 10, 11.
If I do die before thee, prithee, shroud me In one of those same
sheets.
Shak.
(b) A broad piece of paper, whether folded or unfolded, whether blank
or written or printed upon; hence, a letter; a newspaper, etc. (c) A
single signature of a book or a pamphlet; in pl., the book itself.
To this the following sheets are intended for a full and distinct
answer.
Waterland.
(d) A broad, thinly expanded portion of metal or other substance; as, a
sheet of copper, of glass, or the like; a plate; a leaf. (e) A broad
expanse of water, or the like. "The two beautiful sheets of water."
Macaulay. (f) A sail. Dryden. (g) (Geol.) An extensive bed of an
eruptive rock intruded between, or overlying, other strata.
2. [AS. sceáta. See the Etymology above.] (Naut.) (a) A rope or chain
which regulates the angle of adjustment of a sail in relation in
relation to the wind; -- usually attached to the lower corner of a
sail, or to a yard or a boom. (b) pl. The space in the forward or the
after part of a boat where there are no rowers; as, fore sheets; stern
sheets.
Sheet is often used adjectively, or in combination, to denote that the
substance to the name of which it is prefixed is in the form of sheets,
or thin plates or leaves; as, sheet brass, or sheet-brass; sheet glass,
or sheet-glass; sheet gold, or sheet-gold; sheet iron, or sheet- iron,
etc.
A sheet in the wind, half drunk. [Sailors' Slang] -- Both sheets in the
wind, very drunk. [Sailors' Slang] -- In sheets, lying flat or
expanded; not folded, or folded but not bound; -- said especially of
printed sheets. -- Sheet bend (Naut.), a bend or hitch used for
temporarily fastening a rope to the bight of another rope or to an eye.
-- Sheet lightning, Sheet piling, etc. See under Lightning, Piling,
etc.
Sheet, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sheeted; p. pr. & vb. n. Sheeting.] 1. To
furnish with a sheet or sheets; to wrap in, or cover with, a sheet, or
as with a sheet. "The sheeted dead." "When snow the pasture sheets."
Shak.
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