shear

shear (s̸hir)

transitive verb sheared, sheared or shorn, shear′·ing

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

Etymology: 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

Etymology: ME schere < OE scear

shear′er noun

Object

sheep: You can milk or shear the once pregnant sheep or cow the day it was supposed to be born.
bolt: No threads were stripped, no knuckles bloodied, no bolts sheared.
lamb: But God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.
wool: No, you yourself are the hairdresser, since you only shear wool and take little care for your flock.

Converse of object

prune: Now is the time to take the same pruning shears to the agenda.
pink: Use this template to cut out the required number of net circles, using pinking shears for a decorative finish if you like.

Adjective modifier

right-lateral: This must cause the same amount of right-lateral shear in eastern Iran.
oscillatory: It is therefore natural to study the macroscopic parameters of the fluids under different conditions, such as steady and oscillatory shear.
vertical: Relative importance of lateral and vertical shear on Rutford Ice Stream, Antarctica.
magnetic: The effects of oblique propagation and a magnetic field shear are taken into account.

Modifies a noun

modulus: In reality the values of shear modulus G are much lower.
viscosity: Predicting the shear viscosity of heavily filled materials can thus also be complex.
stress: The maximum shear stress is given by the radius of the largest circle.
stiffness: Example calculations are included together with graphs showing the effect of lay-up on the shear stiffnesses.
deformation: Here, after demonstrating that shear deformation alone makes little qualitative difference, the case of initial curvature is examined in some detail.
strength: Greater shear strength due to larger tooth cross section.

Noun used with modifier

masonry: The vertical reinforcement of the masonry shear wall should be anchored into the floor to ensure loads transfer.
poultry: To butterfly chicken, use poultry shears or a sharp knife to split the bird lengthways along one side of the backbone.
velocity: Using these analytical solutions, the effect of the velocity shear on the damping rate of the surface wave can easily be investigated.

Present participle complement

thin: Under simple shear, typically, the same polymer solutions are strongly shear thinning.

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