sleeves from one's vest

Meaning: (idiomatic)Something non-existent; something of no value or cost.1980, Alvin W. Cohn, Benjamin Ward,Improving Management in Criminal Justice, page79:"when a prosecutor dismisses some of the charges in a multi-count indictment, he is giving the defendant thesleeves from his vest"2003, Ronald Reagan, Kiron K. Skinner, Annelise Graebner Anderson, Martin Anderson,Reagan: A Life in Letters, page xii:"Mr. President," I said, "We don't have anything to deploy so you are giving them thesleeves from your vest.2006, Richard Sonnenfeldt,Witness to Nuremberg: The Chief American Interpreter at the War Crimes Trials, page170:Of someone stingy he would say, "This guy wouldn't give you thesleeves from his vest."

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