Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Sheath \Sheath\, n. [OE. schethe, AS. sc[=ae][eth], sce['a][eth], sc[=e][eth]; akin to OS. sk[=e][eth]ia, D. scheede, G. scheide, OHG. sceida, Sw. skida, Dan. skede, Icel. skei[eth]ir, pl., and to E. shed, v.t., originally meaning, to separate, to part. See Shed.]
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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.
--Spenser. -
Any sheathlike covering, organ, or part. Specifically:
(Bot.) The base of a leaf when sheathing or investing a stem or branch, as in grasses.
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(Zo["o]l.) One of the elytra of an insect.
Medullary sheath. (Anat.) See under Medullary.
Primitive sheath. (Anat.) See Neurilemma.
Sheath knife, a knife with a fixed blade, carried in a sheath.
Sheath of Schwann. (Anat.) See Schwann's sheath.
Wiktionary
n. A knife with a fixed blade that fits in a sheath to protect the knife and its owner.
WordNet
n. a knife with a fixed blade that is carried in a sheath [syn: case knife]
Wikipedia
A sheath knife is a fixed-bladed knife that fits in a sheath of leather or other material such as nylon or kevlar. The sheath is used to protect the knife and as a carrier.
The blades vary in size, shape and construction.
In Australian law, "sheath knife" has a different definition. In this case, they are a kind of non-folding, fixed-blade knife which has "a sheath which withdraws into its handle", thus giving something of the effect of an " out-the-front" switchblade. These knives, like switchblades, are "prohibited weapons" in Australia.
Usage examples of "sheath knife".
Besides the pink sugar cake, I need a large bunch of nice raisins, a red neck scarf, a good sheath knife and a peacock feather.
He turned his attention to the vertical wooden planking at the side of the window, took out his sheath knife and levered a plank away to expose a length of twin-cored flex stapled vertically to the wall.
I hung the pouch and my sheath knife from the belt and cinched it around my waist.
His handkerchief-wrapped hand held the blade of his heavy sheath knife.
It was as if I stripped myself to nakedness as I took my sheath knife from my belt and handed it over to my father.
His own hand started to drift toward the sheath knife at his side.
His heavy sheath knife went through hide, flesh, gristle, even the thinner bones, much more quickly and easily than did the slender blades of his comrades.