sheatheverb/ʃiːð/

• 1

  To put (something such as a knife or sword) into a sheath.

  • Sheath your Dagger: / Be angry when you will, it ſhall haue ſcope: […]
  • Thy Chamber vvith Ambroſiall odors breatheth, / Nevv loues and true loues vnto them that entreateth, / And furious Mars made milde his Faulcheon ſheatheth / At thy delicious aſpect: […]
• 2

  To encase (something) with a protective covering.

  • A chearful heart does good like a medicine, but envy corrodes like a poiſon; it is ſo ſharp, that it cuts the body which ſheathes it.
  • When thou sheathest thy glances in thy eyelids, they inflict deadly wounds: what must they be when thou drawest them from their scabbards!
• 3

  Of an animal: to draw back or retract (a body part) into the body, such as claws into a paw.

  • So when the gen'rous Lyon has in ſight / His equal match, he rouſes for the fight; / But when his foe lyes proſtrate on the plain, / He ſheaths his paws, uncurls his angry mane; / And, plea'd with bloudleſs honours of the day, / Walks over, and diſdains th' inglorious Prey, […]
  • We are told, that Dews and the Juices of Flowers are their [hummingbirds'] Food, which they extract with their little Tongue, whoſe Length exceeds that of their Bill, and ſerves them inſtead of a Trunk, which they contract and ſheathe in their Bill.
• 4

  datedliteraryTo thrust (a sharp object like a sword, a claw, or a tusk) into something.

  • And nuzzling in his flank, the loving swine / Sheathed unaware the tusk in his soft groin.
  • Nay, neuer beare me hence, diſpatch me heere: / Here ſheath thy Sword, Ile pardon thee my death: […]
• 5

  obsoleterareTo abandon or cease (animosity, etc.)

  • Let him die, but firſt ſheth your impatience, throw cold water on your collor, […]
• 6

  obsoleteTo provide (a sword, etc.) with a sheath.

  • Nathaniels coate ſir was not fully made, / And Gabrels pumpes were all vnpinkt i'th heele: / There was no Linke to colour Peters hat, / And Walters dagger was not come from ſheathing: […]
• 7

  obsoletemedicinesciencesTo relieve the harsh or painful effect of (a drug, a poison, etc.).

  • [page 540] Theſe ſmooth and oily Med'cines act by ſheathing acrimonious Salts in the Blood, and preventing Inconveniences from 'em; and by relaxing the Fibres, and hence widening 'em. […] [page 541] [They] are convenient in Coughs, from thin and ſharp Rheums, becauſe they ſheathe the Salts that gall the Lungs.
  • He concludes this Diſſertation, by endeavouring to explain the Manner of its [olive oil's] operating, which he attributes to its fat inviſcating Nature, whereby it ſheathes the Spicula of the Poiſon.