■ verb ( past participle shorn or ~ed )
1》 cut the wool off (a sheep or other animal).
↘cut off with scissors or ~s.
↘( be shorn of ) have something cut off.
2》 break off or cause to break off, owing to a structural strain.
■ noun a strain produced by pressure in the structure of a substance, when its layers are laterally shifted in relation to each other.
Derivatives
~er noun
Origin
OE sceran , of Gmc origin, from a base meaning 'divide, ~, shave'.
Usage
On the confusion of ~ and sheer , see usage at sheer 2 .