SLEEVE (2)

Sleeve, n. [[OE. sleeve, sleve, AS. sl�fe, sl�fe; akin to sl�fan to put on, to clothe; cf. OD. sloove the turning up of anything, sloven to turn up one's sleeves, sleve a sleeve, G. schlaube a husk, pod.]] 1. 1. The part of a garment which covers the arm; as, the sleeve of a coat or a gown. Chaucer.
2. 2. A narrow channel of water.
The Celtic Sea, called oftentimes the Sleeve. Drayton. 3. 3. (Mach.) (a) A tubular part made to cover, sustain, or steady another part, or to form a connection between two parts. (b) A long bushing or thimble, as in the nave of a wheel. (c) A short piece of pipe used for covering a joint, or forming a joint between the ends of two other pipes.
Sleeve button, a detachable button to fasten the wristband or cuff. — Sleeve links, two bars or buttons linked together, and used to fasten a cuff or wristband. — To laugh in the sleeve, to laugh privately or unperceived, especially while apparently preserving a grave or serious demeanor toward the person or persons laughed at; that is, perhaps, originally, by hiding the face in the wide sleeves of former times. — To pin, or hang, on the sleeve of, to be, or make, dependent upon.