shear

Signification

Verb

1. To remove the fleece from (a sheep etc.) by clipping.
2. To cut the hair of (a person).
3. To cut, originally with a sword or other bladed weapon, now usually with shears, or as if using shears.
4. To deform because of forces pushing in opposite directions.
5. To change in direction or speed.
6. 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. To make a vertical cut in coal.
8. To reap, as grain.
9. To deprive of property; to fleece.

Noun

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

Adj

Misspelling of sheer.

Prononcé comme (IPA)

/ʃɪə(ɹ)/

Étymologie

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 scheren, Dutch scheren, German scheren, Danish skære, Norwegian Bokmål skjære, Norwegian Nynorsk skjera, Swedish skära, Finnish keritä; and (from Indo-European) with Ancient Greek κείρω (keírō, “I cut off”), Latin caro (“flesh”), Albanian shqerr (“to tear, cut”), harr (“to cut, to mow”), Lithuanian skìrti (“separate”), Welsh ysgar (“separate”). See also sharp.