shear

[ sheer ]

/ ʃɪər /

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verb (used with object), sheared, sheared or shorn, shear·ing.

to cut (something).

to remove by or as if by cutting or clipping with a sharp instrument: to shear wool from sheep.

to cut or clip the hair, fleece, wool, etc., from: to shear sheep.

to strip or deprive (usually followed by of): to shear someone of power.

Chiefly Scot. to reap with a sickle.

to travel through by or as if by cutting: Chimney swifts sheared the air.

verb (used without object), sheared, sheared or shorn, shear·ing.

to cut or cut through something with a sharp instrument.

to progress by or as if by cutting: The cruiser sheared through the water.

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

Chiefly Scot. to reap crops with a sickle.

noun

Usually shears. (sometimes used with a singular verb)

scissors of large size (usually used with pair of).
any of various other cutting implements or machines having two blades that resemble or suggest those of scissors.

the act or process of shearing or being sheared.

a shearing of sheep (used in stating the age of sheep): a sheep of one shear.

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

one blade of a pair of large scissors.

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.

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

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.

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.

Nearby words

shea nut, shea tree, sheading, sheaf, shealing, shear, shear force, shear legs, shear modulus, shear pin, shear strain

Origin of shear

before 900; (v.) 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 v.

Related forms

shear·er, nounshear·less, adjective

Can be confused

shear sheer

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for shears

A good pair of shears should be heavy and sharp; this pair, which I use, is both.
The 2012 Holiday Kitchen Gift Guide|Megan McArdle|December 13, 2012|DAILY BEAST
And no, he did not come to clients' homes himself with a pair of shears to do the snipping to their personal specifications.
Balmain's Big Rip-Off|Robin Givhan|April 6, 2011|DAILY BEAST
They worked together at quarter and center like a pair of shears.
Bert Wilson on the Gridiron|J. W. Duffield
My mother and my aunt set to work with shears and needles and built me a suit of clothes out of the brown overcoat.
The Iron Puddler|James J. Davis

As the beautiful roses fell beneath his shears, Mary caught up a tiny red rosebud.
Mostly Mary|Mary Edward Feehan
The machine-shearing saves much wool, as it gets closer to the skin of the sheep and shears more evenly.
Textiles|William H. Dooley
Mr. Austin Gilett passed in the company of two men whom Shears recognized as members of the English detective-force.
The Blonde Lady|Maurice Leblanc

British Dictionary definitions for shears (1 of 2)

shears

/ (ʃɪəz) /

pl n

large scissors, as for cutting cloth, jointing poultry, etc
a large scissor-like and usually hand-held cutting tool with flat blades, as for cutting hedges

any of various analogous cutting or clipping implements or machines

short for sheerlegs

off the shears Australian informal (of a sheep) newly shorn

British Dictionary definitions for shears (2 of 2)

shear

/ (ʃɪə) /

verb shears, shearing or sheared or Australian and NZ shore, sheared or shorn

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

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

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

(tr often foll by of) to strip or divestto shear someone of his power

(when intr, foll by through) to move through (something) by or as if by cutting

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

noun

the act, process, or an instance of shearing

a shearing of a sheep or flock of sheep, esp when referred to as an indication of agea sheep of two shears

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

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

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

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

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

Derived Forms

shearer, noun

Word Origin for shear

Old English sceran; related to Old Norse skera to cut, Old Saxon, Old High German skeran to shear; see share ²

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Science definitions for shears

shear

[ shîr ]

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.

See skew.