shear
English
Etymology
From Middle English sheren, from Old English scieran, from Proto-Germanic *skeraną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”). Cognate with West Frisian skeare, Low German scheren, Dutch scheren, German scheren, Danish skære, Norwegian skjære, Swedish skära; and (from Indo-European) with Ancient Greek κείρω (keirō, “I cut off”), Latin caro (“flesh”), Albanian harr (“to cut, to mow”), Lithuanian skìrti (“separate”), Welsh ysgar (“separate”). See also sharp.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA: /ʃɪə(ɹ)/, X-SAMPA: /SI(r)/
- Rhymes: -ɪə(r)
- (US) IPA: /ʃiɹ/, X-SAMPA: /Sir/
- Rhymes: -ir
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Audio (US) (file) - Homophone: sheer
Verb
shear (third-person singular simple present shears, present participle shearing, simple past sheared or shore, past participle shorn or sheared)
- To cut, originally with a sword or other bladed weapon, now usually with shears, or as if using shears.
- 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe:
- So trenchant was the Templar’s weapon, that it shore asunder, as it had been a willow twig, the tough and plaited handle of the mace, which the ill-fated Saxon reared to parry the blow, and, descending on his head, levelled him with the earth.
- 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe:
- To remove the fleece from a sheep etc by clipping
- (physics) To deform because of shearing forces
Translations
to cut
to remove the fleece from a sheep
|
to deform because of shearing forces
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Noun
shear (plural shears)
- a cutting tool similar to scissors, but often larger
- the act of shearing, or something removed by shearing
- (physics) a force that produces a shearing strain
- (geology) The response of a rock to deformation usually by compressive stress, resulting in particular textures.
Derived terms
Translations
a cutting tool similar to scissors
the act of shearing, or something removed by shearing
a force that produces a shearing strain
Adjective
shear
- Common misspelling of sheer.