Sheath
Sheath , noun
[Old English schethe, Anglo-Saxon scae, sceáe, scēe; akin to Old Saxon skēeia, Dutch scheede, German scheide, Old High German sceida, Swedish skida, Danish skede, Icelandic skeieir, pl., and to English shed, transitive verb, 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.
2.
(Botany) Any sheathlike covering, organ, or part.
(a)
(Botany) The base of a leaf when sheathing or investing a stem or branch, as in grasses.
(b)
(Botany) One of the elytra of an insect.
Collocations (4)
Sheath knife , a knife with a fixed blade, carried in a sheath.