shear

American  

[sheer] / ʃɪər /

verb (used with object)

• shears,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sheared,
  past participle,  past
• shorn,
  past participle
• shearing
  present participle

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 followed byof ).

   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.

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verb (used without object)

• shears,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sheared,
  past participle,  past
• shorn,
  past participle
• shearing
  present participle

1. to cut or cut through something with a sharp instrument.

2. to progress by or as if by cutting.

   The cruiser sheared through the water.

3. Mechanics, Geology. to become fractured along a plane as a result of forces acting parallel to the plane.

4. Chiefly Scot. to reap crops with a sickle.

noun

1. (sometimes used with a singular verb) Usually shears.

   1. scissors of large size (usually used withpair of ).

   2. any of various other cutting implements or machines having two blades that resemble or suggest those of scissors.

2. the act or process of shearing or being sheared.

3. a shearing of sheep (used in stating the age of sheep).

   a sheep of one shear.

4. the quantity, especially of wool or fleece, cut off at one shearing.

5. one blade of a pair of large scissors.

6. Also called shear legs,.  Also called sheerlegs.  (usually used with a plural verb) Usually shears. Also sheers 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.

7. a machine for cutting rigid material, as metal in sheet or plate form, by moving the edge of a blade through it.

8. 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.

9. 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.

shear British  

/ ʃɪə /

verb

1. (tr) to remove (the fleece or hair) of (sheep, etc) by cutting or clipping

2. to cut or cut through (something) with shears or a sharp instrument

3. engineering to cause (a part, member, shaft, etc) to deform or fracture or (of a part, etc) to deform or fracture as a result of excess torsion or transverse load

4. to strip or divest

   to shear someone of his power

5. to move through (something) by or as if by cutting

6. to reap (corn, etc) with a scythe or sickle

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noun

1. the act, process, or an instance of shearing

2. a shearing of a sheep or flock of sheep, esp when referred to as an indication of age

   a sheep of two shears

3. a form of deformation or fracture in which parallel planes in a body or assembly slide over one another

4. physics the deformation of a body, part, etc, expressed as the lateral displacement between two points in parallel planes divided by the distance between the planes

5. either one of the blades of a pair of shears, scissors, etc

6. a machine that cuts sheet material by passing a knife blade through it

7. a device for lifting heavy loads consisting of a tackle supported by a framework held steady by guy ropes

shear Scientific  

/ shîr /

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.

2. See more at shear force stress strain

3. See skew

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• shearer
  noun
• shearless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• shearing
  present
• sheared
  past
• shorn
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• shear
  simple
• shears
  simple
• have sheared
  perfect
• have shorn
  perfect
• has sheared
  perfect
• has shorn
  perfect
• am shearing
  progressive
• are shearing
  progressive
• is shearing
  progressive
• have been shearing
  perfect progressive
• has been shearing
  perfect progressive

Past

• sheared
  simple
• had sheared
  perfect
• had shorn
  perfect
• was shearing
  progressive
• were shearing
  progressive
• had been shearing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will shear
  simple
• will have sheared
  perfect
• will have shorn
  perfect
• will be shearing
  progressive
• will have been shearing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of shear

First recorded before 900; (verb) Middle English sheren, Old English sceran, cognate with Dutch, German scheren, Old Norse skera; (noun) (in sense “tool for shearing”) Middle English sheres (plural), continuing Old English scērero, scēar, two words derived from the same root as the verb

Explanation

A shear is a cutting implement that looks like a long pair of scissors. Also like scissors, this form of the noun is usually plural. You can cut metal, prune a tree, or cut up a chicken with shears. In farming, when you remove wool from a sheep, goat, or even a llama, you shear the animal. Most farmers shear their sheep once a year, but the timing varies from farm to farm. The verb shear also means to cause to break off or come apart with a cutting force. The wind during a storm can blow hard enough to shear the tiles off a roof.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shear shears sheared shorn shearing

As they stood, pieces of the building continued to shear off and crash to the ground.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

"We've got professional shearers coming, it's not everybody who can shear," Williams said.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

To him it was a sin not to shear the sheep.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

Its work, largely paid for with federal funds, has allowed for major improvements in the prediction of extreme weather events and a reduction in the number of air accidents caused by severe wind shear.

From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026

The mountains also create wind shear, which is when the wind suddenly changes direction, another deadly hazard to flight.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

While Ernest Wright is proud of its long history, its the latest manufacturing technology that has helped it create a niche in the market for scissors and shears.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

I slipped on waterproof shoes, grabbed a pair of shears and, still in my pajamas, tiptoed down the grand staircase of the château and out onto the dewy grass of the garden.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026

That means buying fresh lobsters from your local market, boiling them and using kitchen shears to slice their shells from head to tail.

From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2024

“I can’t imagine how frightened those horses must have been,” Brad said as he cropped the grass tightly around the marble stone with garden shears.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2024

A single pedestrian wanders down the sidewalk, and a gardener is carefully trimming a nearby hedge—but aside from the faint clip-clip-clip sound of his shears, it’s quiet.

From "Warcross" by Marie Lu

As of Monday, the closure had sheared 16 million barrels from daily oil supplies, according to JPMorgan Chase analysts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026

And so the men counted to three and they pushed, and Plymouth Rock sheared in half.

From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2024

Ms Rojas said the forces on the front platform of the sub sheared the clamp and the dome vacuum broke.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2024

Some 11 million years ago, a large meteor impact on Mars sheared away parts of the planet and sent the rocks hurtling into space.

From Science Daily ● May 31, 2024

What must the previous history of the planet have been to create sheared rocks, buried boulders, polygonal gouges in the ground?

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Sutton said the sheep "definitely felt better" after it was shorn last week.

From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026

“This Is Not About Running” is Ms. Cain’s aptly titled memoir, as the book is shorn of any joy or fulfillment typically found in sports narratives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

Spurs are a very poor team, shorn of confidence and self-belief, looking on course for the Championship.

From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2026

However, the sale means the group is shorn of its most profitable division, raising the danger that it falls short of its revenue growth forecasts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 16, 2026

But all that I could see here were men shorn of respect either for themselves or their companion.

From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin

The rising cost may not be welcomed by shoppers seeking woolly socks and jumpers this winter, but it does mean farmers are more likely to cover the cost of shearing.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

A backlight sufficient to be useful would disturb the laminar flow of air rushing across the rear decklid, increasing shearing turbulence and drag at the back of the car.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026

"They've lost their livelihoods, they've lost their shearing sheds, livestock, just absolutely devastating," he told national broadcaster ABC.

From Barron's ● Jan. 8, 2026

To that end, the dire wolf was bigger than the grey wolves that existed at the same time, with large, shearing teeth carrying an extremely strong bite force.

From Salon ● May 15, 2025

The fourth sliced his stick in two, splintering the wood and shearing through the lead core.

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin

Related Words

• mow
• prune
• shave
• snip
• trim