shive

Etymology 1

A parallel form of sheave, from Middle English schyve, from Proto-West Germanic *skībā, from Proto-Germanic *skībǭ, presumably through an Old English *sċīfe (though it is not attested before the Middle English period). Cognate with German Scheibe, late Old Norse skífa (“slice”), brauðskífa (“slice of bread”) (whence Danish skive (“disc, slice”)), Dutch schijf (“disc, slice”).

noun

1. A slice, especially of bread.
   In my cool room with the shutters shut and the thin shives of air and light coming through the slats, I cried myself to sleep in an overloud selfpitying transport. 1980, Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers
2. (obsolete) A sheave.
3. A beam or plank of split wood.
4. A flat, wide cork for plugging a large hole or closing a wide-mouthed bottle.
   If the conditioning continues to be fairly brisk, a wooden tut might appear to distort a little under the stress of the internal pressure, with the beer seeping out around the tut and shive. 2011, John Alexander, A Guide to Craft Brewing

Etymology 2

From Middle English schyfe, schyffe, from Proto-Germanic *skibō-; cognate with German Schäbe, Dutch scheef, and Low German Schääv, all ‘fragment of the woody core of flax or hemp’. The expected pronunciation would be /ʃɪv/; the pronunciation /ʃaɪv/ is probably due to the combined influence of Etymology 1 and the spelling.

noun

1. A splinter or fragment of the woody core of flax or hemp broken off in braking or scutching
2. A plant fragment remaining in scoured wool.
3. A piece of thread or fluff on the surface of cloth or other material.
4. (papermaking) A dark particle or impurity in finished paper resulting from a bundle of incompletely cooked wood fibres in the pulp.

Etymology 3

Variant of shiv.

noun

1. Alternative form of shiv
   So every alleyway down here, every shadow big enough to hide a shive artist with a grudge, is a warm invitation to rewrite history. 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 50

Etymology 4

See shiva

noun

1. Alternative spelling of shiva
   There are some cultural details in Schissel’s story that are specific to the Jewish community: the family sits shive (seven days of mourning for the dead), and the preference for silence at that time. 2010, William Labov, A Life of Learning