sheathe

verb

1. (transitive)To put (something such as a knife or sword) into a sheath.

   “Sheath your Dagger: / Be angry when you will, it ſhall haue ſcope: […]”

   “Thy Chamber vvith Ambroſiall odors breatheth, / Nevv loues and true loues vnto them that entreateth, / And furious Mars made milde his Faulcheon ſheatheth / At thy delicious aſpect: […]”

   “At Sight of thee, the Villain ſheaths his Sword, / Nor ſcales the Wall, to ſteal the wealthy Hoard.”

   “Be aware of the smiling enemy, that openly sheatheth his weapon, / But mingleth poison in secret with the sacred salt of hospitality.”

   “Ke okakla foo le, obon oke-woo. If thy knife cut thee thou sheathest it. N.B.—Meaning thou dost not cast it away.”

2. (transitive)To encase (something) with a protective covering.

   “A chearful heart does good like a medicine, but envy corrodes like a poiſon; it is ſo ſharp, that it cuts the body which ſheathes it.”

   “When thou sheathest thy glances in thy eyelids, they inflict deadly wounds: what must they be when thou drawest them from their scabbards!”

   “She sheathed her legs in the sheerest of the nylons that her father had brought back from the Continent, and slipped her feet into the toeless, high-heeled shoes of black suède.”

   “But he could never come up with enough enchantment or dream material to sheathe himself in. It would not cover.”

3. (transitive)Of an animal: to draw back or retract (a body part) into the body, such as claws into a paw.

   “So when the gen'rous Lyon has in ſight / His equal match, he rouſes for the fight; / But when his foe lyes proſtrate on the plain, / He ſheaths his paws, uncurls his angry mane; / And, plea'd with bloudleſs honours of the day, / Walks over, and diſdains th' inglorious Prey, […]”

   “We are told, that Dews and the Juices of Flowers are their [hummingbirds'] Food, which they extract with their little Tongue, whoſe Length exceeds that of their Bill, and ſerves them inſtead of a Trunk, which they contract and ſheathe in their Bill.”

4. (dated, figuratively, literary, poetic, transitive)To thrust (a sharp object like a sword, a claw, or a tusk) into something.

   “And nuzzling in his flank, the loving swine / Sheathed unaware the tusk in his soft groin.”

   “Nay, neuer beare me hence, diſpatch me heere: / Here ſheath thy Sword, Ile pardon thee my death: […]”

   “[T]hey who either thro Hatred, or Ambition, or Covetouſneſs, do fight with evil Men, and ſo kill one another, fight not under the Banner of Chriſt, but the Devil; ſhewing […] how difficult for ſuch to be in Charity (without which no Man ſhall ſee God) who ſheathe their Swords in their Brethens Bowels.”

5. (figuratively, obsolete, rare, transitive)To abandon or cease (animosity, etc.)

   “Let him die, but firſt ſheth your impatience, throw cold water on your collor, […]”

6. (obsolete, transitive)To provide (a sword, etc.) with a sheath.

   “Nathaniels coate ſir was not fully made, / And Gabrels pumpes were all vnpinkt i'th heele: / There was no Linke to colour Peters hat, / And Walters dagger was not come from ſheathing: […]”

7. (obsolete, transitive)To relieve the harsh or painful effect of (a drug, a poison, etc.).

   “[page 540] Theſe ſmooth and oily Med'cines act by ſheathing acrimonious Salts in the Blood, and preventing Inconveniences from 'em; and by relaxing the Fibres, and hence widening 'em. […] [page 541] [They] are convenient in Coughs, from thin and ſharp Rheums, becauſe they ſheathe the Salts that gall the Lungs.”

   “He concludes this Diſſertation, by endeavouring to explain the Manner of its [olive oil's] operating, which he attributes to its fat inviſcating Nature, whereby it ſheathes the Spicula of the Poiſon.”

   “Comfry Root (Symphytum) is a principal Vulnerary; it is very mucilaginous and thickening, its clammy Juice ſheathes the Sharpneſs of the Humours; […]”