sley

plural sleys

1. Reed (of a loom).
2. A guideway in a knitting machine.
3. businessThe number of warp ends per inch in the cloth.

   1 more example

   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

   Synonyms: sett

present singular third person sleys · participle present sleying · participle past sleyed · past sleyed · alternative slay

1. transitivebusinessTo separate or part warp threads and arrange them in a reed.

   Centering for a weaving width of 15 7/15", sley 2 ends per dent in a 15-dent reed, or centering for a width of 15 5/10", sley 3 ends per dent in a 10-dent reed.

   2026, Shelby Moravec, “Flight of the Dragonflies Scarf”, in Handwoven, volume XLVII, number 1, page 28

   Synonyms: sleid