sley

Etymology

From Middle English slay, from Old English slege.

noun

1. Reed (of a loom).
2. A guideway in a knitting machine.
3. (weaving) The number of warp ends per inch in the cloth.
   An extreme draft is not desirable in the spinning of filling yarns either on a frame or mule, although yarn from the latter machines is usually spun from coarser roving than would be possible on a filling frame, and it would seem preferable to spin same from roving with a medium draft, or, from double roving, and particularly so for fine sheetings, cambrics and other styles of cloth, that require finer filling than the warp and which have a higher count or pick, than sley. 1903 December, “The Adjustment of Cotton Preparing and Spinning Machinery”, in Textile World, volume 26, number 3, page 125

verb

1. (transitive, weaving) To separate or part the threads of, and arrange them in a reed.