SHEAR

I. verb (~ed; ~ed or shorn; ~ing) Etymology: Middle English sheren, from Old English scieran; akin to Old Norse skera to cut, Latin curtus mutilated, curtailed, Greek keirein to cut, ~, Sanskrit kṛnāti he injures Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. to cut off the hair from , to cut or clip (as hair or wool) from someone or something, to reap with a sickle, to cut or trim with ~s or a similar instrument, to cut with something sharp, to deprive of something as if by cutting , 4. to subject to a ~ force, to cause (as a rock mass) to move along the plane of contact, intransitive verb to cut through something with or as if with a sharp instrument, to reap crops with a sickle, to become divided under the action of a ~ , ~er noun II. noun Date: before 12th century 1. a. a cutting implement similar or identical to a pair of scissors but typically larger, one blade of a pair of ~s, any of various cutting tools or machines operating by the action of opposed cutting edges of metal, c. something resembling a ~ or a pair of ~s, a hoisting apparatus consisting of two or sometimes more upright spars fastened together at their upper ends and having tackle for masting or dismasting ships or lifting heavy loads (as guns), the action or process or an instance of ~ing, 3. internal force tangential to the section on which it acts, an action or stress resulting from applied forces that causes or tends to cause two contiguous parts of a body to slide relatively to each other in a direction parallel to their plane of contact