Sheeling. See under Sheal.
Sheen, shēn, n. brightness or splendour.—adj. (obs.) bright, shining.—v.i. (arch.) to shine, glitter.—adj. Sheen′y, shining, beautiful. [A.S. scéne, scýne, fair; Dut. schoon, Ger. schön, beautiful; prob. from the root of A.S. sceáwian, to look at.]
Sheeny, shēn′i, n. (slang) a sharp fellow, a cheat, a Jewish dealer.—adj. cheating.
Sheep, shēp, n.sing. and pl. the well-known ruminant mammal covered with wool: leather made from sheep-skin: a silly and timid fellow.—ns. Sheep′-bīt′er (Shak.), one who practises petty thefts; Sheep′-bīt′ing, robbing those under one's care, like an ill-trained shepherd-dog; Sheep′-cote, an enclosure for sheep; Sheep′-dog, a dog trained to watch sheep: (slang) a chaperon.—adj. Sheep′-faced, sheepish, bashful.—ns. Sheep′-farm′er, Sheep′-fold, a fold or enclosure for sheep: a flock of sheep; Sheep′-head, Sheep's′-head, a fool, a stupid and timid person: an American fish of the family Sparidæ, allied to the perches, so called from the shape and colour of the head; Sheep′-hook, a shepherd's crook.—adj. Sheep′ish, like a sheep: bashful: foolishly diffident.—adv. Sheep′ishly.—ns. Sheep′ishness; Sheep′-louse, a parasitic dipterous insect; Sheep′-mar′ket, a place where sheep are sold; Sheep′-mas′ter, a master or owner of sheep; Sheep′-pen, an enclosure for sheep; Sheep′-pest, the sheep-tick; Sheep′-pox, a contagious eruptive disease of sheep, variola ovina; Sheep′-run, a tract of grazing country for sheep; Sheep's′-eye, a modest, diffident look: a loving, wishful glance; Sheep's′-foot, a printer's tool with a claw at one end for prizing up forms; Sheep′-shank (Scot.), the shank of a sheep—hence something slender and weak: a nautical knot for temporarily shortening a rope; Sheep′-shearer, one who shears sheep; Sheep′-shearing; Sheep′-shears, a kind of shears used for shearing sheep; Sheep′-sil′ver, money formerly paid by tenants for release from the service of washing the lord's sheep; Sheep′-skin, the skin of a sheep: leather prepared from the skin of a sheep: a deed engrossed on sheep-skin parchment; Sheep′-steal′er; Sheep′-steal′ing; Sheep's′-wool, a valuable Florida sponge; Sheep′-tick, an insect which attacks the sheep, sucking its blood and raising a tumour; Sheep′walk, the place where the sheep pasture; Sheep′-wash, a lotion for vermin on the sheep, or to preserve its wool—also Sheep′-dip; Sheep′-whis′tling, tending sheep.—Black sheep, the disreputable member of a family or group. [A.S. sceáp; Ger. schaf.]
Sheer, shēr, adj. pure: unmingled: simple: without a break, perpendicular.—adv. clear: quite: at once. [Ice. skærr, bright; Ice. skírr, A.S. scír.]
Sheer, shēr, v.i. to deviate from the line of the proper course, as a ship: to turn aside.—n. the deviation from the straight line, or the longitudinal curve or bend of a ship's deck or sides.—ns. Sheer′-hulk, an old dismasted ship with a pair of sheers mounted on it for masting ships; Sheer′-leg, one of the spars.—n.pl. Sheers, an apparatus for hoisting heavy weights, having usually two legs or spars spread apart at their lower ends, and bearing at their tops, where they are joined, hoisting-tackle. [Perh. Dut. scheren, to cut, withdraw.]
Sheet, shēt, n. a large, thin piece of anything: a large, broad piece of cloth in a bed: a large, broad piece of paper: a sail: the rope fastened to the leeward corner of a sail to extend it to the wind.—v.t. to cover with, or as with, a sheet: to furnish with sheets: to form into sheets.—ns. Sheet′-copp′er, -ī′ron, -lead, -met′al, copper, iron, lead, metal in thin sheets.—adj. Sheet′ed, with a white band or belt.—ns. Sheet′-glass, a kind of crown-glass made at first in the form of a cylinder, cut longitudinally, and opened out into a sheet; Sheet′ing, cloth used for bed-sheets: the process of forming into sheets; Sheet′-light′ning, lightning appearing in sheets or having a broad appearance; Sheet′-work, press-work.—A sheet (or Three sheets) in the wind, fuddled, tipsy; In sheets (print.), not folded, or folded but not bound. [A.S. scéte, scýte, a sheet—sceótan (pa.t. sceát), to shoot, project.]
Sheet-anchor, shēt′-angk′ur, n. the largest anchor of a ship, shot or thrown out in extreme danger: chief support: last refuge. [Shoot and anchor.]
Sheik, Sheikh, shēk, n. a man of eminence, a lord, a chief: a title of learned or devout me n. [Ar. sheikh—shākha, to be old.]