sheaf
sheaf Lexical Profile
sheaf Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A bundle or stack of loose papers, arrows, or other long, slender objects held or tied together.
"The professor walked into the lecture hall carrying a thick sheaf of handwritten notes."
A bundle of grain stalks laid lengthwise and tied together after reaping.
"The farmers worked until dusk, binding each golden sheaf of wheat before the autumn rain arrived."
In mathematics, a tool in algebraic geometry and topology for systematically tracking locally defined data attached to the open sets of a topological space.
"The graduate seminar focused on how a mathematical sheaf assigns algebraic structures to open subsets of a manifold."
• verb
To gather and tie (cut grain, stalks, or papers) into bundles or sheaves.
"Workers followed behind the reapers to sheaf the barley before loading it onto wagons."
Word Nuance & Usage
The standard plural of the noun is 'sheaves', whereas the related verb usually takes the form 'sheave' (or less commonly 'sheaf') when meaning to bind into bundles.
• Rhymes for sheaf
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from Old English 'scēaf', meaning a bundle of grain, from a Proto-Germanic root related to 'shove', originally referring to stalks pushed or gathered together.