Shear

/ʃɪə(ɹ)/ · verb

Meaning

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

Definitions by Sense

1. (intransitive, transitive) To remove the fleece from (a sheep, llama, 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. (physics) To deform because of forces pushing in opposite directions.
5. (aviation, meteorology, intransitive, of wind) To change in direction or speed.
6. (mathematics) 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. (mining, intransitive) To make a vertical cut in coal.
8. (engineering) (also 'shear off') To break or suddenly separate because of excessive force, eg. a bolt.

Example Sentences

shear the llamas

shear the afro off someone's head

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.

the golden tresses […] were shorn away

The total along-the-runway wind component sheared from an 8-knot headwind to about a 56-knot tailwind over a 44-second period.

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 stalks

short of their wool, and naked from the shear

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.

Synonyms for shear

Antonyms for shear

Related Words

Word Forms

• shears
• shearing
• sheared
• shore
• shorn

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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