SLEEVE (O. Eng. slieve, slyf, a word allied to " slip," cf. Dutch sloof,

See also:

• APRON (a corruption arising from a wrong division of " a napron " into " an apron," from the Fr. naperon, napperon, a diminutive of nappe, Lat. mappa, a napkin)

apron)  , that part of a garment which covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips . The pattern of the sleeve is one of the characteristics of fashion in dress, varying in every country and period . Various survivals of the early forms of sleeve are still found in the different types of academic or other robes (q.v.) . Where the long hanging sleeve is worn it has, as still in China and Japan, been used as a pocket, whence has come the phrase " to have up one's sleeve," to have something concealed ready to produce . There are many other proverbial and metaphorical expressions associated with the sleeve, such as "to wear one's heart upon one's sleeve," " to laugh in one's sleeve," &c . In technical usage a " sleeve " is a tubeinto which another tube is inserted, which in the case of small tubes is called a thimble .