shear

To shear is to cut something or have something cut off.

(verb)

See shear in Webster's New World College Dictionary

to cut with shears or a similar sharp-edged instrument
1. to remove (the hair, wool, etc.) by cutting or clipping
2. to cut or clip the hair, wool, etc. from
to tear or wrench (off) by shearing stress
to move through as if cutting
to strip or divest (someone) of a power, right, etc.
Dialectal to reap with a sickle

Origin: ME scheren < OE scieran, akin to Ger scheren < IE base *(s)ker-, to cut > harvest

intransitive verb

1. to use a cutting tool, as shears, in trimming or cutting wool, shrubbery, metal, etc.
2. Dialectal to use a sickle in reaping
to come apart or break under the action of shearing stress
to move by or as if by cutting

noun

1. Rare shears
2. a single blade of a pair of shears
a machine used in cutting metal, esp. sheet metal
the action, process, or result of shearing; specif., the shearing of wool from an animal: used in designating a sheep's age: a sheep of three shears
1. shearing stress
2. any strain or distortion in shape resulting from the action of shearing stress

Origin: ME schere < OE scear

Related Forms:

See shear in American Heritage Dictionary 4

verb sheared sheared, sheared sheared or shorn (shôrn, shōrn), shear·ing, shears

verb, transitive

To remove (fleece or hair) by cutting or clipping.
To remove the hair or fleece from.
To cut with or as if with shears: shearing a hedge.
To divest or deprive as if by cutting: The prisoners were shorn of their dignity.

verb, intransitive

noun

a. A pair of scissors. Often used in the plural.
b. Any of various implements or machines that cut with a scissorlike action. Often used in the plural.
The act, process, or result of shearing.
Something cut off by shearing.
The act, process, or fact of shearing. Used to indicate a sheep's age: a two-shear ram.
also sheers (shîrz) (used with a sing. or pl. verb) An apparatus used to lift heavy weights, consisting of two or more spars joined at the top and spread at the base, the tackle being suspended from the top.
Physics
a. An applied force or system of forces that tends to produce a shearing strain. Also called shearing stress, shear stress.
b. A shearing strain.