shear

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English [edit]

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Etymology [edit]

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 [edit]

Verb [edit]

shear (third-person singular simple present shears, present participle shearing, simple past sheared or shore, past participle shorn or sheared)

  1. 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.
  2. To remove the fleece from a sheep etc by clipping
  3. (physics) To deform because of shearing forces

Translations [edit]

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Noun [edit]

shear (plural shears)

  1. a cutting tool similar to scissors, but often larger
  2. the act of shearing, or something removed by shearing
  3. (physics) a force that produces a shearing strain
  4. (geology) The response of a rock to deformation usually by compressive stress, resulting in particular textures.

Derived terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

Adjective [edit]

shear

  1. Common misspelling of sheer.

Anagrams [edit]