Word.ws English Dictionary

sheaves

sheaves is the plural of sheave.

sheaves is the plural of sheaf.

Meaning of sheave

Noun

sheave (plural sheaves)

  1. A wheel having a groove in the rim for a rope to work in, and set in a block, mast, or similar; the wheel of a pulley.
    • To an exceptional degree the duties on these inclines have been passed on from father to son; many a boy has begun his working life in oiling the sheaves and, after passing through every grade, has reached the age of retirement in the responsible position of brakesman.1942 September and October, Charles E. Lee, “The Stanhope & Tyne Railway: II–Self-Acting Inclines”, in Railway Magazine, page 263
  2. A sliding scutcheon for covering a keyhole.

See all 3 meanings of sheave

Meaning of sheaf

Noun

sheaf (plural sheaves or sheafs)

  1. A quantity of the stalks and ears of wheat, rye, or other grain, bound together; a bundle of grain or straw.
    • O, let me teach you how to knit again
      This scattered corn into one mutual sheaf,
      These broken limbs again into one body.c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
    Synonyms:
    reap, wheatsheaf
  2. Any collection of things bound together.
    • a sheaf of paper
    Synonyms:
    bundle
  3. (collective) A bundle of arrows sufficient to fill a quiver, or the allowance of each archer.
    • The sheaf of arrows shook, and rattled in the case.1700, John Dryden, Palamon and Arcite
  4. (collective) A quantity of arrows, usually twenty-four.
    • Arrows were anciently made of reeds, afterwards of cornel wood, and occasionally of every species of wood: but according to Roger Ascham, ash was best; arrows were reckoned by sheaves, a sheaf consisted of twenty-four arrows.1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 34
  5. A sheave.
  6. If two sections over U agree under restriction to every U_i, then the sections are the same.

See all 9 meanings of sheaf

Phrases with sheaves

Questions about sheaves

What is sheaves the plural of?
Sheaves is the plural of sheave.

Words near sheaves in the dictionary

  1. sheathy
  2. sheats
  3. sheave
  4. sheaved
  5. sheaveless
  6. sheaves
  7. sheaving
  8. Sheay
  9. Sheb
  10. Sheba
  11. Sheban

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sheaves (page history and authors); sheave (page history and authors); sheaf (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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