• (British) IPA: /ʃiːt/
• (America) IPA: /ʃit/

sheet (plural sheets)

1. A thin bed cloth used as a covering for a mattress or as a layer over the sleeper.

   Use the sheets in the hall closet to make the bed.

   • Bible, Acts x. 10, 11

     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.

   • c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene iii]:

     If I do die before thee, prithee, shroud me / In one of those same sheets.

2. A piece of paper, usually rectangular, that has been prepared for writing, artwork, drafting, wrapping, manufacture of packaging (boxes, envelopes, etc.), and for other uses. The word does not include scraps and irregular small pieces destined to be recycled, used for stuffing or cushioning or paper mache, etc.

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   A sheet of paper measuring eight and one-half inches wide by eleven inches high is a popular item in commerce.

   Paper is designated “20 pound” if a stack (ream) of 500 sheets 22 inches by 17 inches weighs 20 pounds.

3. A flat metal pan, often without raised edge, used for baking.

   Place the rolls on the cookie sheet, edges touching, and bake for 10-11 minutes.

4. A thin, flat layer of solid material.

   The glazer cut several panes from a large sheet of glass.

   A sheet of that new silicon stuff is as good as a sheet of tinfoil to keep food from sticking in the baking pan.

5. A broad, flat expanse of a material on a surface.

   Mud froze on the road in a solid sheet, then more rain froze into a sheet of ice on top of the mud!

6. (nautical) A line (rope) used to adjust the trim of a sail.

   To be "three sheets to the wind" is to say that a four-cornered sail is tethered only by one sheet and thus the sail is useless.

7. (nautical, nonstandard) A sail.
8. (curling) The area of ice on which the game of curling is played.
9. (nonstandard) A layer of veneer.
10. (figuratively) Precipitation of such quantity and force as to resemble a thin, virtually solid wall.
11. (geology) An extensive bed of an eruptive rock intruded between, or overlying, other strata.
12. (nautical) The space in the forward or after part of a boat where there are no rowers.

    fore sheets; stern sheets

13. (video games, dated) A distinct level or stage within a game.
    • 1984 February, Sinclair Programs

      If you land safely you will gain 30 extra points and move to the next sheet.

    • 1984, Chris Passey and Matthew Uffindell, Run It Again, in Crash issue 4

      What distinguishes Eskimo Eddie from the others is that it has two totally different sheets in the game. […] In the first sheet, Frogger style, you have to rescue Percy penguin from Growler the bear.

• (piece of paper) page
• (line) rope
• (expanse of material) blanket, coat, coating, layer

• hit the sheets
• three sheets to the wind
• under the sheets
• white as a sheet

• French: feuille
• German: Blatt, Bogen
• Italian: foglio
• Portuguese: folha
• Russian: лист
• Spanish: hoja, folio, pliego

• French: plaque
• German: Blech
• Russian: про́тивень

• French: feuille
• German: Blatt, Platte, Lage
• Portuguese: lâmina
• Russian: лист
• Spanish: lámina

• German: Schicht
• Portuguese: capa
• Russian: лист
• Spanish: capa

• French: écoute
• German: Schot
• Italian: scotta
• Portuguese: escota
• Russian: шкот
• Spanish: escota

• Italian: scotta

sheet (sheets, present participle sheeting; past and past participle sheeted)

1. (transitive) To cover or wrap with cloth, or paper, or other similar material.

   Remember to sheet the floor before you start painting.

   • c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene iv]:

     Yea, like a stag, when snow the pasture sheets, / The barks of trees thou browsed'st.

2. (transitive) To form into sheets.
3. (intransitive) Of rain, or other precipitation, to pour heavily.

   We couldn't go out because the rain was sheeting down all day long.

4. (nautical) To trim a sail using a sheet.

1. A village in Hampshire, England.