sheet

A large, thin piece of cloth that covers a mattress or lies over you in bed.

• Put a clean sheet on the bed.
• We washed the sheets this morning.
• The fitted sheet keeps slipping off the mattress.

Similar words: bed sheet

Common phrases: bed sheet, clean sheet, fitted sheet, cotton sheet

One flat piece of paper used for writing, printing, or other purposes.

• I need a sheet of paper.
• Write your answers on separate sheets.
• She folded the sheet and put it in an envelope.

How to use it: a sheet of paper (Take a sheet of paper and write your name.)

Similar words: piece of paper

Common phrases: sheet of paper, blank sheet, answer sheet, paper sheet

A thin, flat piece of material, including a flat metal tray used for baking.

• Put the cookies on a baking sheet.
• They covered the hole with a sheet of plastic.
• Thin metal sheets lined the walls.

How to use it: a sheet of something (He cut a sheet of metal to the right size.)

Common phrases: baking sheet, metal sheet, sheet of glass, plastic sheet

A wide, flat layer of something covering a surface.

• The lake became a sheet of ice.
• Rain fell in sheets all afternoon.
• A thin sheet of water spread across the floor.

How to use it: a sheet of something (A sheet of ice covered the pond.)

Similar words: layer, covering

Common phrases: sheet of ice, sheet of water, sheet of rain

A rope used to control the angle of a sail on a boat.

• Pull the sheet tighter.
• The sailor loosened the sheet as the wind changed.
• Keep both sheets clear of your feet.

Similar words: rope

Common phrases: jib sheet, main sheet, tighten the sheet

To cover or wrap something with cloth, paper, or another thin material.

• Sheet the floor before painting.
• The workers sheeted the walls with protective material.
• We sheeted over the equipment to keep out dust.

How to use it: sheet something with something (They sheeted the furniture with plastic before painting.)

Similar words: cover, wrap

Opposites: uncover, unwrap

Common phrases: sheet the floor, sheet something over, sheet with plastic

When rain does this, it falls very heavily in a wide, continuous flow.

• Rain started to sheet down.
• Water sheeted off the roof during the storm.
• We watched the rain sheeting down outside.

How to use it: sheet down (Rain began to sheet down over the fields.)

Similar words: pour

Common phrases: sheet down, sheet off something