Sleeve \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. The part of a garment which covers the arm; as, the sleeve of a coat or a gown. --Chaucer.

2. A narrow channel of water. [R.]

The Celtic Sea, called oftentimes the Sleeve. --Drayton.

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)