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shear

verb, noun — 18 senses

shear

verb

AU, UK /ʃɪə/ · UK /ʃɪː/

Etymology

From Middle English sheren, scheren, from Old English sċieran (“to shear; to shave”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeran, from Proto-Germanic *skeraną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”). Cognate with West Frisian skarre, Low German, Dutch, and German scheren, Danish skære, Norwegian Bokmål skjære, Norwegian Nynorsk skjera, Swedish skära, Faroese and Icelandic skera, Finnish keritä; and (from Indo-European) with Ancient Greek κείρω (keírō, “to cut off”), Latin caro (“flesh”), Albanian shqerr (“to tear, cut”), harr (“to cut, to mow”), Lithuanian ski̇̀rti (“separate”), Welsh ysgar (“separate”). See also sharp.

10 senses
  1. 1To remove the fleece from (a sheep, llama, etc.) by clipping.
  2. 2To cut the hair of (a person).
  3. 3To cut, originally with a sword or other bladed weapon…
  4. 4To deform because of forces pushing in opposite directions.
  5. 5To change in direction or speed.
  6. 6To transform by displacing every point in a direction…
  7. 7To make a vertical cut in coal.
  8. 8(also 'shear off') To break or suddenly separate because…
  9. 9To reap, as grain.
  10. 10To deprive of property; to fleece.
1

To remove the fleece from (a sheep, llama, etc.) by clipping.

  • shear the llamas
2

To cut the hair of (a person).

  • shear the afro off someone's head
3

To cut, originally with a sword or other bladed weapon, now usually with shears, or as if using shears.

  • 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:
  • the golden tresses […] were shorn away1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 68”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
4

Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics To deform because of forces pushing in opposite directions.

5

Aeronautics, Aerospace, Aviation, Business, Climatology, Engineering, Meteorology, Natural sciences, Physical sciences Of wind To change in direction or speed.

  • The total along-the-runway wind component sheared from an 8-knot headwind to about a 56-knot tailwind over a 44-second period.1985 March 21, National Transportation Safety Board, “2.3 Airplane Takeoff Performance”, in Aircraft Accident Report: United Airlines Flight 663, Boeing 727-222, N7647U, Denver, Colorado, May 31, 1984, page 41:
6

Mathematics, Sciences To transform by displacing every point in a direction parallel to some given line by a distance proportional to the point’s distance from the line.

7

Business, Mining To make a vertical cut in coal.

8

Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences (also 'shear off') To break or suddenly separate because of excessive force, eg. a bolt.

9

Scotland To reap, as grain.

  • Soon as the bending Scythe, And Sickle keen, have shear'd the golden Grain, Array'd in all the Equipage of Death, Forth the stern Sportsman stalks1769, John Aldington, A Poem on the Cruelty of Shooting etc.:
10

Figuratively To deprive of property; to fleece.

Derived terms
beshear, hydroshear, reshear, shearability, shearable, shear off, toshear

shear

noun
Etymology

From Middle English sheren, scheren, from Old English sċieran (“to shear; to shave”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeran, from Proto-Germanic *skeraną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”). Cognate with West Frisian skarre, Low German, Dutch, and German scheren, Danish skære, Norwegian Bokmål skjære, Norwegian Nynorsk skjera, Swedish skära, Faroese and Icelandic skera, Finnish keritä; and (from Indo-European) with Ancient Greek κείρω (keírō, “to cut off”), Latin caro (“flesh”), Albanian shqerr (“to tear, cut”), harr (“to cut, to mow”), Lithuanian ski̇̀rti (“separate”), Welsh ysgar (“separate”). See also sharp.

8 senses
  1. 1A cutting tool similar to scissors, but often larger.
  2. 2A large machine use for cutting sheet metal.
  3. 3The act of shearing, or something removed by shearing.
  4. 4Forces that push in opposite directions.
  5. 5The phenomenon of wind shear.
  6. 6A specific instance of wind shear.
  7. 7A transformation that displaces every point in a…
  8. 8The response of a rock to deformation usually by…
1

A cutting tool similar to scissors, but often larger.

  • short of their wool, and naked from the shear1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
2

Arts, Crafts, Engineering, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Metallurgy, Metalworking, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A large machine use for cutting sheet metal.

3

The act of shearing, or something removed by shearing.

  • After the second shearing, he is a two-shear ram; […] at the expiration of another year, he is a three-shear ram; the name always taking its date from the time of shearing.1837, William Youatt, Sheep: Their Breeds, Management, and Diseases:
4

Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics Forces that push in opposite directions.

5

Aeronautics, Aerospace, Aviation, Business, Climatology, Engineering, Meteorology, Natural sciences, Physical sciences The phenomenon of wind shear.

  • The first effect of a wind shear was detected at 34 to 42 seconds into the takeoff, at a speed of about 115 KIAS with the airplane about 3,800 feet down the runway. An average shear rate of about 2.5 knots per second resulted in an interruption in acceleration at this point with the airspeed remaining at 115 to 120 KIAS for 7 to 10 seconds.1985 March 21, National Transportation Safety Board, “2.3 Airplane Takeoff Performance”, in Aircraft Accident Report: United Airlines Flight 663, Boeing 727-222, N7647U, Denver, Colorado, May 31, 1984, page 41:
6

Aeronautics, Aerospace, Aviation, Business, Climatology, Engineering, Meteorology, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A specific instance of wind shear.

  • We hit a nasty shear on approach and had to go around.
7

Mathematics, Sciences A transformation that displaces every point in a direction parallel to some given line by a distance proportional to the point's distance from the line.

8

Geography, Geology, Natural sciences The response of a rock to deformation usually by compressive stress, resulting in particular textures.

Derived terms
44 termsalligator shear, crocodile shear, guillotine shear, Kepler shear, magnetoshear, megashear, microshear, preshear, shearbill, shear-cake, shear centre, shearer, shearfree, shear hog, shear legs, shearless, shearlet, shearlike, shear line, shearline, shearling, shearman, shear modulus, shearography, shearotactic, shearotaxis, shearpole, shear steel, shear strength, shear stress, sheartail, shear-thickening, shear-thinning, shear viscosity, shear wall, shearwall, shearwater, shear wave, shear zone, Sherman, squaring shear, throatless shear, wind shear, windshear

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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