[sheer] vb [perh. alter. of [1]shear] vi (1539): to deviate from a course: swerve ~ vt: to cause to sheer
[2]sheer n (1670) 1: a turn, deviation, or change in a course (as of a ship)
2: the position of a ship riding to a single anchor and heading toward it [3]sheer adj [ME schere freed from guilt, prob. alter. of skere, fr. ON skaerr pure; akin to OE scinan to shine] (ca. 1568) 1 obs: bright, shining
2: of very thin or transparent texture: diaphanous 3 a: unqualified, utter "~ folly" "~ ignorance" b: being free from an adulterant: pure, unmixed c: viewed or acting in dissociation from all else "in terms of ~ numbers"
4: marked by great and continuous steepness syn see steep -- sheer.ly adv -- sheer.ness n [4]sheer adv (ca. 1600) 1: in a complete manner: altogether
2: straight up or down without a break: perpendicularly [5]sheer n (ca. 1920): a sheer fabric; also: an article of such a fabric [6]sheer n [perh. alter. of
[2]shear] (1691): the fore-and-aft curvature from bow to stern of a ship's deck as shown in side elevation