Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
short sleeve

short sleeve

7 1.0
A sleeve that goes from the shoulder to just above the elbow
  • noun
  • /ʃɔrt sliːv/
translation icon : manga corta
  • On a hot summer day, she wore a light short sleeve shirt to stay cool.
  • wear short sleeves

But I had to go to rehearsal, but I couldn't wear short sleeves because so I wore a sweatshirt.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • When Dylan comes back a week later, I am in short sleeves—my way of saying thank you.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • So here I have her short sleeve vests packed.

  • A white button closed the short sleeve on the upper arm.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Here the weather had turned cold again, and he showed up wearing short sleeves like it was June.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • With no head covering and short sleeves, I felt out of place.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • So we'll do this blue short sleeve button up shirt from Barney Cools in light blue.

  • The woman was wearing a clean housedress with short sleeves that showed her strong but not plump arms.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Jack, still singing, donning his Dockers and short-sleeve oxford...

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Finally, I saw Gloria, dressed in checkered shorts, a white short-sleeve shirt, and a red cap.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • "Hot spit, isn't it?" She was wearing a short-sleeve blouse, and Jacinta could see arm muscles move under the skin.

    Fiction book (1999)

Synonyms

sleeve
vsshort sleeve
234 1.0

The part of clothes that covers the arm, like on a shirt

is a specific form that ends above or at the elbow

Antonyms

long sleeve
12 1.2

The part of a shirt or dress that covers the arm to the wrist

How Long

long sleeve
12 1.2
short sleeve
7 1.0
sleeveless
13 1.8

Surface Forms

short sleeve singular
short sleeves plural

Morphology

short + sleeve

The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'short' (of small length) modifying 'sleeve' (the garment's arm covering). This adjective+noun structure is simple and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand the phrase.

Etymology

The phrase short sleeve comes from a simple image: a sleeve that is short and stops above the elbow, leaving part of the arm free. So today it means a shirt or dress 'with sleeves that end above the elbow'.