shear
(shîr)v. sheared, sheared or shorn (shôrn), shear·ing, shears
v.tr.1. To remove (fleece or hair) by cutting or clipping.
2. To remove the hair or fleece from.
3. To cut with or as if with shears: shearing a hedge.
4. To divest or deprive as if by cutting: The prisoners were shorn of their dignity.
v.intr.1. To use a cutting tool such as shears.
2. To move or proceed by or as if by cutting: shear through the wheat.
3. Physics To become deformed by shear force.
n.1. often
shearsa. A pair of scissors.
b. Any of various implements or machines that cut with a scissorlike action.
2. The act, process, or result of shearing, especially when used to indicate a sheep's age: a two-shear ram.
3. Something cut off by shearing.
4. 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.
shear′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
shear
(ʃɪə) vb,
shears,
shearing or sheared,
shore,
sheared or shorn1. (Agriculture) (tr) to remove (the fleece or hair) of (sheep, etc) by cutting or clipping
2. to cut or cut through (something) with shears or a sharp instrument
3. (General Engineering) engineering to cause (a part, member, shaft, etc) to deform or fracture or (of a part, etc) to deform or fracture as a result of excess torsion or transverse load
4. (often foll by: of) to strip or divest: to shear someone of his power.
5. (when: intr, foll by through) to move through (something) by or as if by cutting
6. (Agriculture) Scot to reap (corn, etc) with a scythe or sickle
n7. the act, process, or an instance of shearing
8. (Agriculture) a shearing of a sheep or flock of sheep, esp when referred to as an indication of age: a sheep of two shears.
9. (General Engineering) a form of deformation or fracture in which parallel planes in a body or assembly slide over one another
10. (General Physics) physics the deformation of a body, part, etc, expressed as the lateral displacement between two points in parallel planes divided by the distance between the planes
11. either one of the blades of a pair of shears, scissors, etc
12. (Mechanical Engineering) a machine that cuts sheet material by passing a knife blade through it
13. (Mechanical Engineering) a device for lifting heavy loads consisting of a tackle supported by a framework held steady by guy ropes
[Old English sceran; related to Old Norse skera to cut, Old Saxon, Old High German skeran to shear; see share2]
ˈshearer n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
shear
(ʃɪər)
v. sheared, sheared shorn, shear•ing, v.t. 1. to cut (something).
2. to remove by or as if by cutting or clipping: to shear wool from sheep.
3. to cut or clip the hair, fleece, wool, etc., from: to shear sheep.
4. to strip or deprive (usu. fol. by of): to shear someone of power.
5. to travel through by or as if by cutting: Chimney swifts sheared the air.
6. to subject (a solid body or structure) to shear.
v.i. 7. to cut or cut through something with a sharp instrument.
8. to break along an internal plane in response to a force parallel to the plane.
9. Chiefly Scot. to reap crops with a sickle.
n. 10. Usu.,
shears. (
sometimes used with a sing. v.)
a. scissors of large size (usu. used with pair of).
b. any of various other cutting implements or machines having two blades that suggest those of scissors.
11. one blade of a pair of large scissors.
12. the act or process of shearing or being sheared.
13. a shearing of sheep (used in stating the age of sheep): a sheep of one shear.
14. the quantity, esp. of wool or fleece, cut off at one shearing.
15. Usu., shears. (usu. with a pl. v.) a framework for hoisting heavy weights, consisting of two or more spars with their legs separated, fastened together near the top and steadied by guys, which support a tackle.
16. a machine for cutting rigid material by moving the edge of a blade through it.
17. a. the tendency of a force applied to a solid body or structure, as a rock stratum, to cause deformation or rupture along a plane parallel to the force.
b. deformation produced in this manner.
[before 900; (v.) Middle English sheren, Old English sceran, c. Old Frisian skera, Old High German sceran, Old Norse skera; (n.) Middle English sheres (pl.); compare Old English scērero (pl.), scēar (feminine)]
shear′er, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.