shear
UK /ʃɪə/ · US /ʃɪɚ/ verb, noun, proper noun
Forms shears shearing sheared shore shorn
- verb (intransitive, transitive) To remove the fleece from (a sheep, llama, etc.) by clipping. “shear the llamas”
- verb To cut the hair of (a person). “shear the afro off someone's head”
- verb To cut, originally with a sword or other bladed weapon, now usually with shears, or as if using shears.
- verb (physics) To deform because of forces pushing in opposite directions.
- verb (aviation, meteorology, intransitive, of wind) To change in direction or speed.
- verb (mathematics) To transform by displacing every point in a direction parallel to some given line by a distance proportional to the point’s distance from the line.
- verb (mining, intransitive) To make a vertical cut in coal.
- verb (engineering) (also 'shear off') To break or suddenly separate because of excessive force, eg. a bolt.
- noun A cutting tool similar to scissors, but often larger.
- noun (metalworking) A large machine use for cutting sheet metal.
- noun The act of shearing, or something removed by shearing.
- noun (physics) Forces that push in opposite directions.
- noun (aviation, meteorology, uncountable) The phenomenon of wind shear.
- noun (aviation, meteorology, countable) A specific instance of wind shear. “We hit a nasty shear on approach and had to go around.”
- noun (mathematics) A transformation that displaces every point in a direction parallel to some given line by a distance proportional to the point's distance from the line.
- noun (geology) The response of a rock to deformation usually by compressive stress, resulting in particular textures.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English sheren, scheren, from Old English sċieran (“to shear; to shave”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeran, from Proto-Germanic *skeraną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”).
Cognate with West Frisian skarre, Low German, Dutch, and German scheren, Danish skære, Norwegian Bokmål skjære, Norwegian Nynorsk skjera, Swedish skära, Faroese and Icelandic skera, (borrowed from Germanic) Finnish keritä; and (from Indo-European) with Kamkata-viri ċarë́- (“to chop”), Ancient Greek κείρω (keírō, “to cut off”), Latin caro (“flesh”), Albanian shqerr (“to tear, cut”), harr (“to cut, to mow”), Lithuanian ski̇̀rti (“separate”), Welsh ysgar (“separate”). See also sharp.
From Middle English schyre (“pure, bright, fair”). Also a German surname, variant of Schier, itself a variant of Scheuer or from a cognate of the Middle English word.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To cut, clip, or sever anything from with shears or a like instrument; as, to shear sheep; to shear cloth.
- verb To separate or sever with shears or a similar instrument; to cut off; to clip (something) from a surface; as, to shear a fleece.
- noun A pair of shears; --now always used in the plural, but formerly also in the singular. See Shears.
- noun A shearing; --used in designating the age of sheep.
Etymology [OE. sheren, scheren, to shear, cut, shave, AS. sceran, scieran, scyran; akin to D. & G. scheren, Icel. skera, Dan. ski, Gr. Jeer, Score, Shard, Share, Sheer to turn aside.]
Etymology [AS. sceara. See Shear, v. t.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “shear”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details