Mouw

sleeve Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de mouw, de mou-wen]

A "mouw" is a sleeve. A "mouw" can be "kort" (short) of "lang" (long).Mouw

Examples:
– "Kijk! Er zit een lieveheersbeestje op je mouw!"
("Look! There is a ladybird on your sleeve!")

– "De mouwen van deze trui zijn te lang." 
("The sleeves of this sweater are too long.")

– "Hoe is het weer vandaag? Zal ik iets met korte of lange mouwen aantrekken?" 
("How’s the weather today? Shall I wear something with short or long sleeves?")

Expressions:
– "Daar valt wel een mouw aan te passen": we’ll manage somehow. Lit.: There’s probably a sleeve that can be adjusted.
– "Iemand iets op de mouw spelden": to tell someone a small (lie). Lit.: to pin something on one’s sleeve.
– "Uit de mouw schudden": to come up with something just like that. Lit.: to shake out of the sleeve.

Example:
– "Sander schudt moppen zo uit zijn mouw…echt grappig!"
("Sander comes up with jokes just like that…really funny!")

– "De handen uit de mouwen steken: to put one’s shoulder to the wheel. Lit.: to stick one’s hands out of the sleeves.
– "Daar komt de aap uit de mouw": the truth is revealed, the real intentions become clear. Literally: comes the monkey out of the sleeve.

Related words:
– Kort: short [adjective].
– Lang: long [adjective].
– Manchet: cuff [noun] [de manchet, de manchetten].
– T-shirt:T-shirt [noun] [het T-shirt, de T-shirts].
Trui: sweater, jumper [noun] [de trui, de truien].
Kleren: clothes [noun] [<no singular>, de kleren].

Extra:
Don’t confuse the noun "mouwen" (sleeves) with the verb "mauwen", which translates to "to meow" (the sound made by a cat), which also can be used figuratively: to whine. You may also see "miauwen", which also translates to "to meow", but which doesn’t have the figurative meaning.