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sleave

[ sleev ]

verb (used with object)

, sleaved, sleav·ing.
  1. to divide or separate into filaments, as silk.

noun

  1. anything matted or raveled.
  2. a filament of silk obtained by separating a thicker thread.
  3. a silk in the form of such filaments.

sleave

/ sliːv /

noun

  1. a tangled thread
  2. a thin filament unravelled from a thicker thread
  3. poetic.
    anything matted or complicated
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to disentangle (twisted thread, etc)
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Words From

  • un·sleaved adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of sleave1

1585–95; Old English -slǣfan (only in the compound tōslǣfan ), akin to slīfan to split; sliver
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Word History and Origins

Origin of sleave1

Old English slǣfan to divide; related to Middle Low German slēf, Norwegian sleiv big spoon
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Example Sentences

“I love you—I love you—” until at last sleep helped to knit up the ravelled sleave of care.

The Italian form is sciamito, "a kind of sleave, feret, or filosello silke" (Florio).

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