sleaves
/slivz/
verb
- Third person singular of sleave; separates or untwists fibers, especially in silk or thread.
- He sleaves the raw flax into fine strands for linen.
- She carefully sleaves the threads to remove knots.
- The worker sleaves the tangled silk before it can be spun.
noun
- Plural of sleave; tangled or separated fibers, especially of silk or thread.
- She collected the loose sleaves from the loom floor.
- The sleaves of thread were too knotted to use directly.
- The box was full of silk sleaves waiting to be processed.