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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

sheet.

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

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ʃiːt/UK/ʃit/US
  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.
  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. In modern books, each sheet of paper is typically folded in half, to produce two leaves and four pages. In the absence of folding, "leaf" and "sheet" are equivalent.

    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 piece or 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 or covering 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. An expanse of something.

  7. 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.
  8. A sail.

    nonstandard
  9. The area of ice on which the game of curling is played.

  10. A layer of veneer.

    nonstandard
  11. Precipitation of such quantity and force as to resemble a thin, virtually solid wall.

    figuratively
  12. An extensive bed of an eruptive rock intruded between, or overlying, other strata.

  13. The space in the forward or after part of a boat where there are no rowers.

    fore sheets; stern sheets
  14. A distinct level or stage within a game.

    dated
Where this word comes from

From Middle English schete; partly from Old English sċīete (“a sheet, a piece of linen cloth”); partly from Old English sċēata (“a corner, angle; the lower corner of a sail, sheet”); and Old English sċēat (“a corner, angle”); all from Proto-Germanic *skautijǭ, *skautaz (“corner, wedge, lap”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewd- (“to throw, shoot, pursue, rush”). Cognate with North Frisian skut (“the fold of a garment, lap, coattail”), West Frisian skoat (“sheet; sail; lap”), Dutch schoot (“the fold of a garment, lap, sheet”), German Low German Schote (“a line from the foot of a sail”), German Schoß (“the fold of a garment, lap”), Danish skød (“lap, skirt”), Icelandic skaut (“the corner of a cloth, a line from the foot of a sail, the skirt or sleeve of a garment, a hood”), Norwegian skaut (“headdress”), Swedish sköt (“sheet”).

verb/ʃiːt/UK/ʃit/US
  1. To cover or wrap with cloth, or paper, or other similar material.

    transitive
    Remember to sheet the floor before you start painting.
  2. To form into sheets.

    transitive
  3. To pour heavily.

    intransitive
    We couldn't go out because the rain was sheeting down all day long.
  4. To trim a sail using a sheet.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English schete; partly from Old English sċīete (“a sheet, a piece of linen cloth”); partly from Old English sċēata (“a corner, angle; the lower corner of a sail, sheet”); and Old English sċēat (“a corner, angle”); all from Proto-Germanic *skautijǭ, *skautaz (“corner, wedge, lap”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewd- (“to throw, shoot, pursue, rush”). Cognate with North Frisian skut (“the fold of a garment, lap, coattail”), West Frisian skoat (“sheet; sail; lap”), Dutch schoot (“the fold of a garment, lap, sheet”), German Low German Schote (“a line from the foot of a sail”), German Schoß (“the fold of a garment, lap”), Danish skød (“lap, skirt”), Icelandic skaut (“the corner of a cloth, a line from the foot of a sail, the skirt or sleeve of a garment, a hood”), Norwegian skaut (“headdress”), Swedish sköt (“sheet”).

noun/ʃiːt/UK/ʃit/US
  1. Euphemistic form of shit.

    euphemistic · form-of · slang · uncountable
    This sheet is disgusting!
Where this word comes from

A minced oath of shit.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.