sheer

sheer ¹  (shîr)

intr. & tr.v. sheered, sheer·ing, sheers

To swerve or cause to swerve from a course.

n.

1. A swerving or deviating course.

2. Nautical

a. The upward curve or amount of upward curve of the longitudinal lines of a ship's hull as viewed from the side.

b. The position in which a ship at anchor is maintained in order to keep it clear of the anchor.

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[Probably partly from Low German scheren, to move to and fro (said of boats), and partly from Dutch scheren, to withdraw; see sker-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

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sheer ²  (shîr)

adj. sheer·er, sheer·est

1. Thin, fine, and transparent: sheer curtains; sheer chiffon. See Synonyms at airy.

2.

a. Completely such, without qualification or exception: sheer stupidity; sheer happiness.

b. Free from admixture or adulterants; unmixed: sheer alcohol. See Synonyms at pure.

c. Considered or operating apart from anything else: got the job through sheer persistence.

3. Almost perpendicular; steep: sheer rock cliffs. See Synonyms at steep¹.

adv.

1. Almost perpendicularly.

2. Completely; altogether.

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[Obsolete shere, thin, clear, partly from Middle English shir, bright, clear (from Old English scr) and partly from Middle English skir, bright, clean (from Old Norse skærr).]

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sheerly adv.

sheerness n.

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sheer¹

adj

1. perpendicular; very steep a sheer cliff

2. (of textiles) so fine as to be transparent

3. (prenominal) absolute; unmitigated sheer folly

4. Obsolete bright or shining

adv

1. steeply or perpendicularly

2. completely or absolutely

n

(Clothing, Personal Arts & Crafts / Textiles) any transparent fabric used for making garments

[Old English scīr; related to Old Norse skīrr bright, Gothic skeirs clear, Middle High German schīr]

sheerly  adv

sheerness  n

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sheer²

vb (foll by off or away (from))

1. to deviate or cause to deviate from a course

2. (intr) to avoid an unpleasant person, thing, topic, etc.

n

1. (Transport / Nautical Terms) the upward sweep of the deck or bulwarks of a vessel

2. (Transport / Nautical Terms) Nautical the position of a vessel relative to its mooring

[perhaps variant of shear]

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	sheer - turn sharply; change direction abruptly; "The car cut to the left at the intersection"; "The motorbike veered to the right" slew, slue, swerve, trend, veer, curve, cut turn - change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense; "Turn towards me"; "The mugger turned and fled before I could see his face"; "She turned from herself and learned to listen to others' needs" peel off - leave a formation yaw - swerve off course momentarily; "the ship yawed when the huge waves hit it"
	2.	sheer - cause to sheer; "She sheered her car around the obstacle" channelise, channelize, guide, maneuver, steer, manoeuver, manoeuvre, point, head, direct - direct the course; determine the direction of travelling
Adj.	1.	sheer - complete and without restriction or qualification; sometimes used informally as intensifiers; "absolute freedom"; "an absolute dimwit"; "a downright lie"; "out-and-out mayhem"; "an out-and-out lie"; "a rank outsider"; "many right-down vices"; "got the job through sheer persistence"; "sheer stupidity" out-and-out, right-down, absolute, downright, rank complete - having every necessary or normal part or component or step; "a complete meal"; "a complete wardrobe"; "a complete set of the Britannica"; "a complete set of china"; "a complete defeat"; "a complete accounting"
	2.	sheer - not mixed with extraneous elements; "plain water"; "sheer wine"; "not an unmixed blessing" unmingled, unmixed, plain pure - free of extraneous elements of any kind; "pure air and water"; "pure gold"; "pure primary colors"; "the violin's pure and lovely song"; "pure tones"; "pure oxygen"
	3.	sheer - very steep; having a prominent and almost vertical front; "a bluff headland"; "where the bold chalk cliffs of England rise"; "a sheer descent of rock" bluff, bold steep - having a sharp inclination; "the steep attic stairs"; "steep cliffs"
	4.	sheer - so thin as to transmit light; "a hat with a diaphanous veil"; "filmy wings of a moth"; "gauzy clouds of dandelion down"; "gossamer cobwebs"; "sheer silk stockings"; "transparent chiffon"; "vaporous silks" cobwebby, diaphanous, filmy, gauze-like, gauzy, see-through, vaporous, vapourous, transparent, gossamer thin - of relatively small extent from one surface to the opposite or in cross section; "thin wire"; "a thin chiffon blouse"; "a thin book"; "a thin layer of paint"
Adv.	1.	sheer - straight up or down without a break perpendicularly
	2.	sheer - directly; "he fell sheer into the water"

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sheer

adjective

1. total, complete, absolute, utter, rank, pure, downright, unqualified, out-and-out, unadulterated, unmitigated, thoroughgoing, unalloyed, arrant acts of sheer desperation
total moderate

2. steep, abrupt, perpendicular, precipitous There was a sheer drop just outside my window.
steep gentle, gradual, horizontal, sloping, slanting

3. fine, thin, transparent, see-through, gossamer, diaphanous, gauzy sheer black tights
fine heavy, thick, coarse, opaque, impenetrable

Translations

sheer¹ [ʃɪəʳ]

A. ADJ (sheerer (compar) (sheerest (superl)))

1. (= absolute) → puro, absoluto
by sheer accident; by sheer chance → de pura casualidad
in sheer desperation → en último extremo
by sheer hard work → gracias simplemente al trabajo
the sheer impossibility of → la total imposibilidad de ... PURE

2. (= transparent) → transparente, fino

3. (= precipitous) → escarpado

B. ADV it falls sheer to the sea → baja sin obstáculo alguno hasta el mar
it rises sheer for 100 metres → se levanta verticalmente unos 100 metros

sheer off VI + ADV (Naut) [ship] → desviarse (fig) → largarse

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sheer² [ʃɪəʳ] VI to sheer away from a topic → desviarse de un tema, evitar hablar de un tema

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sheer [ˈʃɪə^r]

adj

(= pure) [boredom, delight, desperation, madness, stupidity] → pur(e), pur(e) et simple
It's sheer greed → C'est de l'avidité pure.
by sheer chance → par pur hasard

(= steep) [cliff, drop, rock face] → à pic abrupt(e)

(= almost transparent) [fabric, tights] → très fin(e)

adv → à pic, abruptement

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sheer

adj (+er)

(= absolute) → rein; nonsense, madness → rein, glatt; stupidity → rein, schier; by sheer force of personality → aufgrund or auf Grund seiner Persönlichkeit; by sheer chance → rein zufällig; by sheer hard work → durch nichts als harte Arbeit; the sheer impossibility of doing that → die schiere Unmöglichkeit, das zu tun; it was sheer hell → es war die (reinste) Hölle (inf)

(= steep) cliff, drop → steil, jäh (geh); there is a sheer drop of 200 feet → es fällt 200 Fuß steil or senkrecht ab

cloth etc → (hauch)dünn, (hauch)zart; sheer nylon stockings → hauchdünne Nylonstrümpfe pl

adv → steil, jäh (geh); (= vertically) → senkrecht

vi (Naut) → ausscheren

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sheer¹ [ʃɪəʳ]

1. adj (-er (comp) (-est (superl)))

a. (utter, madness, greed) → puro/a; (waste of time) → totale; (necessity) → assoluto/a
that's sheer robbery! → è un furto bello e buono!
the sheer impossibility of ... → l'assoluta impossibilità di...
by sheer chance, by a sheer accident → per puro caso or pura combinazione

b. (transparent) → trasparente

c. (precipitous) → a picco
a sheer drop → uno strapiombo

2. adv → a picco, a perpendicolo

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sheer¹ [ʃɪəʳ]

1. adj (-er (comp) (-est (superl)))

a. (utter, madness, greed) → puro/a; (waste of time) → totale; (necessity) → assoluto/a
that's sheer robbery! → è un furto bello e buono!
the sheer impossibility of ... → l'assoluta impossibilità di...
by sheer chance, by a sheer accident → per puro caso or pura combinazione

b. (transparent) → trasparente

c. (precipitous) → a picco
a sheer drop → uno strapiombo

2. adv → a picco, a perpendicolo

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sheer² [ʃɪəʳ] vi (also to sheer off) (gen) (Naut) → deviare

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sheer² [ʃɪəʳ] vi (also to sheer off) (gen) (Naut) → deviare

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sheer [ʃiə]

to turn aside or swerve The speed-boat sheered off course. swenk يَنْحَرِف отклонявам се (от курса си) odchýlit se dreje af abweichen παρεκκλίνω, στρίβω απότομα desviarse kõrvale pöörduma منحرف شدن kääntyä sivuun faire une embardée לִסטוֹת बहकना skrenuti s kursa, zaošijati iránytól eltér membelok breyta um stefnu (girare alla larga) 向きを変える 벗어나다 nukrypti nuo nogriezties; novirzīties [] melencong scherp zwenken dreie (ut) av zboczyć virar a devia отклоняться, уклоняться odchýliť sa zaviti iz smeri skrenuti gira: gira (vika) av หลบหลีก sapmak, yön değiştirmek 避開，迅速轉向 відходити, ухилятися від курсу گھومنا، راستہ تبدیل کرنا tránh 偏航，转向

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sheer¹

adj sheer [ʃiə]

1 absolute Her singing was a sheer delight; It all happened by sheer chance. suiwer مُطْلَق ، مَحْض، صِرْف абсолютен čirý ren og skær rein απόλυτος, σκέτος puro, absoluto selge, puhas مستقيما silkka, puhdas pur גָמוּר पूर्णतया potpun, puki puszta erő, abszolút mutlak alger (puro e semplice) 全くの 전적인 grynas, visiškas gluži nejauši benar-benar louter rein (og skjær) czysty puro pur абсолютный, полнейший číry, úplný skrajen čist ren เต็มที่ sırf, tam 絕對的 абсолютний, цілковитий عین، بالکل hoàn toàn 绝对的

2 very steep a sheer drop to the sea. steil عَمودي отвесен strmý stejl hauchdünn κατακόρυφος, απότομος vertical, escarpado järsk يك راست äkkijyrkkä abrupt תָּלוּל מְאוֹד निरा okomit, strm meredek curam þverhníptur a picco 切り立った 깎아지른 듯한 status stāvs; kraujš mencuram erg steil loddrett, stupbratt spadzisty a pique abrupt отвесный strmý zelo strm strm tvärbrant, lodrät ชันมาก dimdik 陡峭的 крутий, стрімкий تیز ڈھلان thẳng đứng, dốc 陡峭的

3 (of cloth) very thin sheer silk. glad, dun شَفّاف، رَهيف фин tenoučký tynd senkrecht λεπτότατος (για ρούχο) muy fino õhuline ظريف hyvin ohut extra-fin דַק וְשָקוּף पतला tanak, proziran áttetsző tipis næfurþunnur sottile, trasparente ごく薄の 얇고 비치는 plonytis plāns halus dun flortynn, gjennomsiktig delikatny, zwiewny, lekki transparente foarte fin лёгкий, прозрачный tenučký zelo fin tanak mycket tunn, skir บางมาก çok ince (布料)極薄的 прозорий, легкий بہت مہین، پتلا mỏng, nhẹ （纱）纤细透明的

adv

verticaly The land rises sheer out of the sea. regop, vertikaal عَمودِيّا отвесно přímo vzhůru lodret ausscheren κατακόρυφα verticalmente, en picado püstloodis يطور عمود à pic יָשָר खड़ा okomito függőlegesen tegak lóðrétt a picco 垂直に 수직으로 stačiai, statmenai stāvus; krauji menegak loodrecht loddrett pionowo a pique vertical прямо, отвесно priamo (z), rovno (z) navpično vertikalno tvärt, rakt แนวตรง dimdik olarak 垂直地 прямовисно; перпендикулярно عمودی، سیدھا thẳng đứng 垂直地

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sheer → مُطْلَق absolutní ren rein αμιγής puro pelkkä pur proziran puro 全くの 완전한 doorzichtig ren czysty completo абсолютный skir เต็มที่ tam hoàn toàn 全然的