sleeves from one's vest

noun

Something non-existent; something of no value or cost.

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Meanings

nounsleeves from one's vest pl (plural only)
  1. idiomaticpluralplural onlySomething non-existent; something of no value or cost.

    Of someone stingy he would say, "This guy wouldn't give you the sleeves from his vest."

    2006, Richard Sonnenfeldt, Witness to Nuremberg: The Chief American Interpreter at the War Crimes Trials, page 170
    2 more examples

    "when a prosecutor dismisses some of the charges in a multi-count indictment, he is giving the defendant the sleeves from his vest"

    1980, Alvin W. Cohn, Benjamin Ward, Improving Management in Criminal Justice, page 79

    "Mr. President," I said, "We don't have anything to deploy so you are giving them the sleeves from your vest.

    2003, Ronald Reagan, Kiron K. Skinner, Annelise Graebner Anderson, Martin Anderson, Reagan: A Life in Letters, page xii
Cite this entry
APA

sleeves from one's vest. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sleeves%20from%20one's%20vest

MLA

“sleeves from one's vest.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sleeves%20from%20one's%20vest. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sleeves from one's vest,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sleeves%20from%20one's%20vest.

Source: sleeves from one's vest on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.