shear

[[t]ʃɪər[/t]]

v. sheared, sheared shorn, shear•ing,

1) to cut (something)

2) ahb. to remove by or as if by cutting or clipping:

to shear wool from sheep[/ex]

3) ahb. to cut or clip the hair, fleece, wool, etc., from:

to shear sheep[/ex]

4) to strip or deprive (usu. fol. by of):

to shear someone of power[/ex]

5) to travel through by or as if by cutting:

Chimney swifts sheared the air[/ex]

6) mec to subject (a solid body or structure) to shear

7) to cut or cut through something with a sharp instrument

8) mec gel to break along an internal plane in response to a force parallel to the plane

9) scot. Chiefly Scot. to reap crops with a sickle

10) Usu., shears. (sometimes used with a sing. v.)

a) scissors of large size (usu. used with pair of)

b) any of various other cutting implements or machines having two blades that suggest those of scissors

11) one blade of a pair of large scissors

12) ahb. the act or process of shearing or being sheared

13) ahb. a shearing of sheep (used in stating the age of sheep):

a sheep of one shear[/ex]

14) ahb. the quantity, esp. of wool or fleece, cut off at one shearing

15) bui Usu., shears. (usu. with a pl. v.) a framework for hoisting heavy weights, consisting of two or more spars with their legs separated, fastened together near the top and steadied by guys, which support a tackle

16) a machine for cutting rigid material by moving the edge of a blade through it

17) gel phs/mec

a) the tendency of a force applied to a solid body or structure, as a rock stratum, to cause deformation or rupture along a plane parallel to the force

b) deformation produced in this manner

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Etymology: bef. 900; (v.) ME sheren, OE sceran, c. OFrisskera, OHG sceran, ON skera; (n.) ME sheres (pl.); cf. OE scērero (pl.), scēar (fem.) shear′er, n.