SHEATHS
Noun
sheaths
plural of sheath
Source: Wiktionary
SHEATH
Sheath, n. Etym: [OE. schethe, AS. scæedh, sceáedh, sceedh; akin to
OS. skeedhia, D. scheede, G. scheide, OHG. sceida, Sw. skida, Dan.
skede, Icel. skeiedhir, pl., and to E. shed, v.t., originally
meaning, to separate, to part. See Shed.]
1. A case for the reception of a sword, hunting knife, or other long
and slender instrument; a scabbard.
The dead knight's sword out of his sheath he drew. Spenser.
2. Any sheathlike covering, organ, or part. Specifically:
(a) (Bot.) The base of a leaf when sheathing or investing a stem or
branch, as in grasses.
(b) (Zoöl.) One of the elytra of an insect. Medullary sheath. (Anat.)
See under Medullary.
– Primitive sheath. (Anat.) See Neurilemma.
– Sheath knife, a knife with a fixed blade, carried in a sheath.
– Sheath of Schwann. (Anat.) See Schwann's sheath.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition