sleeve

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The part of a piece of clothing that covers the arm.

   The sleeves on my coat are too long.

2. 2
   noun

   A tube-shaped cover that protects part of a machine.

   This bearing needs a sleeve so the shaft will fit snugly.

From Middle English sleve, slefe, from Old English slīef and slīefe (“sleeve”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Sleeuwe (“sleeve”), West Frisian slúf, Dutch sloof (“apron”), Low German sluve, dialectal German Schlaube. The Canadian sense of “measure smaller than a pint” is due to a former conflict between federal law and provincial law in British Columbia. According to federal law, a pint must be 20 imperial ounces (~568 ml), but according to provincial law at the time, the maximum individual serving size was 500 ml, so an individual portion could not be called a “pint” in British Columbia, and…

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