shear stress

Also shear·ing stress

[sheer stres]

noun

Physics.

1. the external force acting on an object or surface parallel to the slope or plane in which it lies; the stress tending to produce shear.

shear stress

noun

1. the form of stress in a body, part, etc, that tends to produce cutting rather than stretching or bending

shear stress

1. A form of stress that subjects an object to which force is applied to skew, tending to cause shear strain. For example, shear stress on a block of wood would arise by fixing one end and applying force to this other; this would tend to change the block's shape from a rectangle to a parallelogram.

2. See also strain

Word History and Origins

Origin of shear stress¹

First recorded in 1870–75