sleave
/sliːv/verb, noun
sleave is spelled S-L-E-A-V-E: 6 letters. It appears about once in every 72 million words in written English, the 269,040th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, sleave means “To separate, as threads; to divide, as a collection of threads” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in sleave?
| Letters | 6: S-L-E-A-V-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 72 million words; the 269,040th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is sleave?
Sleave appears about once in every 72 million words in written English, the 269,040th 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).
How do you pronounce sleave?
- /sliːv/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Words people confuse with sleave
Sounds like: sleeve (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of sleave
- sleaves present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- sleaving participle, present
- sleaved participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sleave mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To separate, as threads; to divide, as a collection of threads.
noun
- 1
The knotted or entangled part of silk or thread.
- 2
Silk not yet twisted; floss.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does sleave come from?
Compare Danish slöife, a loose knot, Swedish slejf (“a knot of ribbon”), German Schleife (“a loop”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).