Sheartail
(Shear"tail`) n. (Zoöl.) (a) The common tern. (b) Any one of several species of humming
birds of the genus Thaumastura having a long forked tail.
Shearwater
(Shear"wa`ter) n. [Shear + water; cf. G. wassersherer; — so called from its running lightly
along the surface of the water.] (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of long-winged oceanic birds of
the genus Puffinus and related genera. They are allied to the petrels, but are larger. The Manx shearwater
the dusky shearwater and the greater shearwater are well-known species of the North Atlantic. See
Hagdon.
Sheatfish
(Sheat"fish`) n. [Cf. dial. G. scheid, schaid, schaiden.] (Zoöl.) A European siluroid fish (Silurus
glanis) allied to the cat-fishes. It is the largest fresh-water fish of Europe, sometimes becoming six
feet or more in length. See Siluroid.
Sheath
(Sheath) n. [OE. schethe, AS. sc&aemacrð, sceáð, sceð; akin to OS. skeðia, D. scheede, G. scheide,
OHG. sceida, Sw. skida, Dan. skede, Icel. skeiðir, 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.
Sheathbill
(Sheath"bill`) n. (Zoöl.) Either one of two species of birds composing the genus Chionis,
and family Chionidæ, native of the islands of the Antarctic seas.
They are related to the gulls and the plovers, but more nearly to the latter. The base of the bill is covered
with a saddle- shaped horny sheath, and the toes are only slightly webbed. The plumage of both species
is white.
Sheathe
(Sheathe) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sheathed ; p. pr. & vb. n. Sheating.] [Written also sheath.]
1. To put into a sheath, case, or scabbard; to inclose or cover with, or as with, a sheath or case.
The leopard . . . keeps the claws of his fore feet turned up from the ground, and sheathed in the skin
of his toes.
Grew.
'T is in my breast she sheathes her dagger now.
Dryden. 2. To fit or furnish, as with a sheath. Shak.
3. To case or cover with something which protects, as thin boards, sheets of metal, and the like; as, to
sheathe a ship with copper.
4. To obtund or blunt, as acrimonious substances, or sharp particles. [R.] Arbuthnot.
To sheathe the sword, to make peace.
Sheathed
(Sheathed) a.
