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sheers

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sheers

  [sheerz]
Use sheers in a Sentence
–noun (usually used with a plural verb)
shear (def. 16).
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sheer

1  [sheer] adjective, -er, -est, adverb, noun
–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; ME scere, shere, schere free, clear, bright, thin; prob. < ON skǣrr; change of sk- > s(c)h- perh. by influence of the related OE scīr (E dial. shire clear, pure, thin); c. G schier, ON skīr, Goth skeirs clear; see shine

Related forms:
sheerly, adverb
sheerness, noun

Synonyms:
2. mere, simple, pure, unadulterated. 3. absolute, downright. 4. abrupt, precipitous. 6. totally, entirely.

Antonyms:
1. opaque.

sheer

2  [sheer]
–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.
Origin:
1620–30; special use of sheer 1 ; cf. sense development of clear

shear

  [sheer] verb, sheared, sheared or shorn, shear⋅ing, noun
–verb (used with object)
1. to cut (something).
2. to remove by or as if by cutting or clipping with a sharp instrument: to shear wool from sheep.
3. to cut or clip the hair, fleece, wool, etc., from: to shear sheep.
4. to strip or deprive (usually fol. by of): to shear someone of power.
5. Chiefly Scot. to reap with a sickle.
6. to travel through by or as if by cutting: Chimney swifts sheared the air.
–verb (used without object)
7. to cut or cut through something with a sharp instrument.
8. to progress by or as if by cutting: The cruiser sheared through the water.
9. Mechanics, Geology. to become fractured along a plane as a result of forces acting parallel to the plane.
10. Chiefly Scot. to reap crops with a sickle.
–noun
11. Usually, shears. (sometimes used with a singular verb)
a. scissors of large size (usually used with pair of).
b. any of various other cutting implements or machines having two blades that resemble or suggest those of scissors.
12. the act or process of shearing or being sheared.
13. a shearing of sheep (used in stating the age of sheep): a sheep of one shear.
14. the quantity, esp. of wool or fleece, cut off at one shearing.
15. one blade of a pair of large scissors.
16. Usually, shears. (usually used with a plural verb) Also, sheers. Also called shear legs, sheerlegs. a framework for hoisting heavy weights, consisting of two or more spars with their legs separated, fastened together near the top and steadied by guys, which support a tackle.
17. a machine for cutting rigid material, as metal in sheet or plate form, by moving the edge of a blade through it.
18. Mechanics, Geology. the tendency of forces to deform or fracture a member or a rock in a direction parallel to the force, as by sliding one section against another.
19. Physics. the lateral deformation produced in a body by an external force, expressed as the ratio of the lateral displacement between two points lying in parallel planes to the vertical distance between the planes.
Origin:
bef. 900; (v.) ME sheren, OE sceran, c. D, G scheren, ON skera; (n.) (in sense “tool for shearing”) ME sheres (pl.), continuing OE scērero, scēar, two words derived from the same root as the v.

Related forms:
shearer, noun
shearless, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To sheers
shear   (shîr)   


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v.   sheared, sheared or shorn (shôrn, shōrn), shear·ing, shears

v.   tr.

  1. To remove (fleece or hair) by cutting or clipping.

  2. To remove the hair or fleece from.

  3. To cut with or as if with shears: shearing a hedge.

  4. To divest or deprive as if by cutting: The prisoners were shorn of their dignity.

v.   intr.

  1. To use a cutting tool such as shears.

  2. To move or proceed by or as if by cutting: shear through the wheat.

  3. Physics To become deformed by forces tending to produce a shearing strain.

n.  

    1. A pair of scissors. Often used in the plural.

    2. Any of various implements or machines that cut with a scissorlike action. Often used in the plural.

    3. An applied force or system of forces that tends to produce a shearing strain. Also called shearing stress, shear stress.

    4. A shearing strain.

  2. The act, process, or result of shearing.

  3. Something cut off by shearing.

  4. The act, process, or fact of shearing. Used to indicate a sheep's age: a two-shear ram.

  5. also sheers (shîrz) (used with a sing. or pl. verb) An apparatus used to lift heavy weights, consisting of two or more spars joined at the top and spread at the base, the tackle being suspended from the top.

  6. Physics

    1. An applied force or system of forces that tends to produce a shearing strain. Also called shearing stress, shear stress.

    2. A shearing strain.


[Middle English scheren, from Old English sceran; see sker-1 in Indo-European roots. N., from Middle English shere, from Old English scēar; see sker-1 in Indo-European roots.]
shear'er n.
sheer 1   (shîr)   
intr. & tr.v.   sheered, sheer·ing, sheers
To swerve or cause to swerve from a course.
n.  

  1. A swerving or deviating course.

  2. Nautical

    1. The upward curve or amount of upward curve of the longitudinal lines of a ship's hull as viewed from the side.

    2. The position in which a ship at anchor is maintained in order to keep it clear of the anchor.


[Probably partly from Low German scheren, to move to and fro (said of boats), and partly from Dutch scheren, to withdraw; see sker-1 in Indo-European roots.]
sheers   (shîrz)   
n.   (used with a sing. or pl. verb)
Variant of shear.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

shear  (v.)
O.E. sceran, scieran (class IV strong verb; past tense scear, pp. scoren), from P.Gmc. *sker- "to cut" (cf. O.N., O.Fris. skera, Du. scheren, Ger. scheren "to shear"), from PIE *(s)ker- "to cut, to scrape, to hack" (cf. Skt. krnati "hurts, wounds, kills," krntati "cuts;" Hittite karsh- "to cut off;" Gk. keirein "to cut, shear;" Lith. skiriu "to separate;" O.Ir. scaraim "I separate;" Welsh ysgar "to separate," ysgyr "fragment").

sheer 
c.1205, "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" (see shine). Sense of "absolute, utter" (sheer nonsense) developed 1583; that of "very steep" (sheer cliff) is first recorded 1800.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Science Dictionary
shear   (shîr)  Pronunciation Key 

  1. A force, movement or pressure applied to an object perpendicular to a given axis, with greater value on one side of the axis than the other. See more at shear force, stress, strain.

  2. See skew.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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