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Dictionary.com Unabridged
adjective
1.
transparently thin; diaphanous, as some fabrics: sheer stockings.
2.
unmixed with anything else: We drilled a hundred feet through sheer rock.
3.
unqualified; utter: sheer nonsense.
4.
extending down or up very steeply; almost completely vertical: a sheer descent of rock.
5.
British Obsolete. bright; shining.
adverb
6.
clear; completely; quite: ran sheer into the thick of battle.
7.
perpendicularly; vertically; down or up very steeply.
noun
8.
a thin, diaphanous material, as chiffon or voile.
Origin:
1175–1225; Middle English scere, shere, schere free, clear, bright, thin; probably < Old Norse skǣrr; change of sk- > s(c)h- perhaps by influence of the related Old English scīr (E dial. shire clear, pure, thin); cognate with German schier, Old Norse skīr, Gothic skeirs clear; see shine
1175–1225; Middle English scere, shere, schere free, clear, bright, thin; probably < Old Norse skǣrr; change of sk- > s(c)h- perhaps by influence of the related Old English scīr (E dial. shire clear, pure, thin); cognate with German schier, Old Norse skīr, Gothic skeirs clear; see shine
Related forms
sheer·ly, adverb
sheer·ness, noun
Synonyms
2. mere, simple, pure, unadulterated. 3. absolute, downright. 4. abrupt, precipitous. 6. totally, entirely.
2. mere, simple, pure, unadulterated. 3. absolute, downright. 4. abrupt, precipitous. 6. totally, entirely.
Antonyms
1. opaque.
1. opaque.
verb (used without object)
1.
to deviate from a course, as a ship; swerve.
verb (used with object)
2.
to cause to sheer.
3.
Shipbuilding. to give sheer to (a hull).
noun
4.
a deviation or divergence, as of a ship from its course; swerve.
5.
Shipbuilding. the fore-and-aft upward curve of the hull of a vessel at the main deck or bulwarks.
6.
Nautical. the position in which a ship at anchor is placed to keep it clear of the anchor.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To sheers
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
sheer
c.1200, "exempt, free from guilt," later schiere "thin, sparse" (c.1400), from O.E. scir "bright, clear," influenced by O.N. cognate scær "bright, clean, pure," from P.Gmc. *skairijaz (cf. O.S. skiri, O.Fris. skire, Ger. schier, Goth. skeirs "clean, pure"), perhaps from PIE base *skai- "to shine"
EXPAND(see shine). Sense of "absolute, utter" (sheer nonsense) developed 1580s; that of "very steep" (sheer cliff) is first recorded 1800.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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