shear

Meaning

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.

Concepts

shear

cut

clip

mow

shave

fleece

trim

reap

sever

shearing

crop

scissor

snip

chop

prune

sythe

cleave

shorten

cut away

carve

slice

amputate

lop

harvest

glean

scythe

divide

poll

peel

skin

shearing force

shear transformation

trimming

clip hair

give haircut

cross

cut back

cut out

cut to

edit

edit out

fix

jab

nip off

operate on

pare

pare down

pierce

pinch

reduce

resect

retrench

slice up

slit

snip off

spay

stab

tease

traverse

cutback

cutting

haircut

incision

intersection

jump cut

plane section

section

surgery

slicer

break

break down

break off

calve

crock up

fall apart

fracture

cut hair

fell

hackle

hash

saw

strip

hew

deform

rend

tear

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ʃɪə(ɹ)/

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 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.