the part of a garment that covers the arm, varying in form and length but commonly tubular.
a protective container, usually thin and flexible with an opening on one side for insertion or removal of an item, as a paper storage envelope for a phonograph record, or a padded case for a tablet or other electronic device: a form-fitting laptop sleeve;a 24-sleeve CD wallet.
a pliable tubular or rectangular container for crackers, cookies, and the like that is typically opened at one end to remove individual servings: I ate a whole sleeve of shortbreads before I realized how many calories that is!The largest box has four sleeves of saltines inside.
Machinery. a tubular piece, as of metal, fitting over a rod or the like.
a pattern of tattoos that covers the arm from shoulder to wrist in one integrated piece of tattoo art: I got my first tattoo when I turned 18, and by 28 I had full sleeves on both arms.
verb (used with object),sleeved,sleev·ing.
to furnish with sleeves.
Machinery. to fit with a sleeve; join or fasten by means of a sleeve.
Idioms for sleeve
have something up one's sleeve, to have a secret plan, scheme, opinion, or the like: I could tell by her sly look that she had something up her sleeve.
laugh up / in one's sleeve, to be secretly amused or contemptuous; laugh inwardly: to laugh up one's sleeve at someone's affectations.
Origin of sleeve
First recorded before 950; Middle English sleve, slieve,Old English slēfe (Anglian), slīefe; akin to Dutch sloof “apron”