I. ˈshir verb
( sheared ; sheared or shorn ˈshȯrn ; shear·ing )
Etymology: Middle English sheren, from Old English scieran; akin to Old Norse skera to cut, Latin curtus mutilated, curtailed, Greek keirein to cut, shear, Sanskrit kṛnāti he injures
Date: before 12th century
transitive verb
1.
a. : to cut off the hair from
with crown shorn
b. : to cut or clip (as hair or wool) from someone or something ; also : to cut something from
shear a lawn
c. chiefly Scottish : to reap with a sickle
d. : to cut or trim with shears or a similar instrument
2. : to cut with something sharp
3. : to deprive of something as if by cutting
lives shorn of any hope — M. W. Browne
4.
a. : to subject to a shear force
b. : to cause (as a rock mass) to move along the plane of contact
intransitive verb
1. : to cut through something with or as if with a sharp instrument
2. chiefly Scottish : to reap crops with a sickle
3. : to become divided under the action of a shear
the bolt may shear off
• shear·er noun
II. noun
Date: before 12th century
1.
a.
(1) : a cutting implement similar or identical to a pair of scissors but typically larger — usually used in plural
(2) : one blade of a pair of shears
b. : any of various cutting tools or machines operating by the action of opposed cutting edges of metal — usually used in plural
c.
(1) : something resembling a shear or a pair of shears
(2) : 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) — usually used in plural but sing. or plural in constr.
2. chiefly British : the action or process or an instance of shearing — used in combination to indicate the approximate age of sheep in terms of shearings undergone
3.
a. : internal force tangential to the section on which it acts — called also shearing force
b. : 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