shear

Use shear in a sentence

The farmers shear the sheep with electric shearing clippers.

verb

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

When you shave a sheep, this is an example of shear.
An example of shear is when you have your hair cut off.

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"shear." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Shear>.

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shear. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Shear

shear

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.
Dial. to reap with a sickle

Origin of shear

Middle English scheren from Old English scieran, akin to German scheren from Indo-European base an unverified form (s)ker-, to cut from source harvest

1. to use a cutting tool, as shears, in trimming or cutting wool, shrubbery, metal, etc.
2. Dial. 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

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 of shear

ME schere < OE scear

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MLA Style

"shear." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Shear>.

APA Style

shear. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Shear

shear

verb

sheared, sheared, or shorn 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

To use a cutting tool such as shears.
To move or proceed by or as if by cutting: shear through the wheat.
Physics To become deformed by shear force.

noun

often shears
a. A pair of scissors.
b. Any of various implements or machines that cut with a scissorlike action.
The act, process, or result of shearing, especially when used to indicate a sheep's age: a two-shear ram.
Something cut off by shearing.
also sheers 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. See shear force.
b. See shear strain.
c. See shear stress.

Origin of shear

Middle English scheren from Old English sceran ; see sker-¹ in Indo-European roots. N., from Middle English shere from Old English scēar ; see sker-¹ in Indo-European roots.

Related Forms:

shear′er
noun

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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MLA Style

"shear." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Shear>.

APA Style

shear. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Shear

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
See skew

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MLA Style

"shear." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Shear>.

APA Style

shear. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Shear

Verb

(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.
To remove the fleece from a sheep etc by clipping.
(physics) To deform because of shearing forces.
(Scotland) To reap, as grain.
(figuratively) To deprive of property; to fleece.

Noun

(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.

Adjective

Common misspelling of sheer.

Origin

From Middle English sheren, from Old English scieran, from Proto-Germanic *skeranÄ…, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut"). Cognate with West Frisian skeare, Low German scheren, Dutch scheren, German scheren, Danish skÃ¦re, Norwegian skjÃ¦re, Swedish skÃ¤ra; and (from Indo-European) with Ancient Greek ÎºÎµÎ¯ÏÏ‰ (keirÅ, “I cut off"), Latin caro (“flesh"), Albanian harr (“to cut, to mow"), Lithuanian skÃ¬rti (“separate"), Welsh ysgar (“separate"). See also sharp.