sheathe
/ʃið/verb
sheathe is a verb meaning “To put (something such as a knife or sword) into a sheath” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled S-H-E-A-T-H-E and has one syllable, and it appears about once in every 15 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does sheathe mean?
verb
- 1
To put (something such as a knife or sword) into a sheath.
- 2
To encase (something) with a protective covering.
- 3
Of an animal: to draw back or retract (a body part) into the body, such as claws into a paw.
- 4
datedTo thrust (a sharp object like a sword, a claw, or a tusk) into something.
- 5
obsoleterareTo abandon or cease (animosity, etc.)
- 6
obsoleteTo provide (a sword, etc.) with a sheath.
- 7
obsoleteTo relieve the harsh or painful effect of (a drug, a poison, etc.).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce sheathe?
- UK /ʃiːð/
- US /ʃið/
- /ʃiːv/
Sheathe has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-sheathe.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sheathe
- sheathes present, singular, he/she/it
- sheathing participle, present
- sheathed participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is sheathe?
Sheathe appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 117,098th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Sheathe in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to put (something) into a sheath:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | engainer, rengainer |
| German | in die Scheide stecken, ummanteln |
| Portuguese | abainhar, embainhar |
| Spanish | envainar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.