SHEAR


Meaning of SHEAR in English

/ ʃɪə(r); NAmE ʃɪr/ verb ( sheared , shorn / ʃɔːn; NAmE ʃɔːrn/ or sheared )

1.

[ vn ] to cut the wool off a sheep :

It was time for the sheep to be shorn.

sheep shearing

2.

[ vn ] ( formal ) to cut off sb's hair :

shorn hair

3.

shear (sth) (off) ( technical ) ( especially of metal ) to break under pressure; to cut through sth and make it break :

[ v ]

The bolts holding the wheel in place sheared off.

[also vn ]

PHRASAL VERBS

- be shorn of sth

••

WORD ORIGIN

Old English sceran (originally in the sense cut through with a weapon ), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German scheren , from a base meaning divide, shear, shave.

Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь для изучающик язык на продвинутом уровне.