Shear Definition

shîr

sheared, shearing, shears, shorn

verb

sheared, shearing, shears, shorn

To come apart or break under the action of shearing stress.

Webster's New World

To tear or wrench (off) by shearing stress.

Webster's New World

To cut with shears or a similar sharp-edged instrument.

Webster's New World

To move by or as if by cutting.

Webster's New World

To remove (the hair, wool, etc.) by cutting or clipping.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

noun

shears

A machine used in cutting metal, esp. sheet metal.

Webster's New World

The action, process, or result of shearing; specif., the shearing of wool from an animal.

A sheep of three shears.

Webster's New World

Something cut off by shearing.

American Heritage

An apparatus used to lift heavy weights, consisting of two or more spars joined at the top and spread at the base, the tackle being suspended from the top.

American Heritage

Shears.

Webster's New World

adjective

Common misspelling of sheer.

Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Shear

Noun

Singular:

shear

Plural:

shears

Origin of Shear

From Middle English sheren, from Old English scieran, from Proto-Germanic *skeranÄ…, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut"). Cognate with West Frisian skeare, Low German scheren, Dutch scheren, German scheren, Danish skære, Norwegian skjære, Swedish skära; and (from Indo-European) with Ancient Greek κείρω (keirō, “I cut off"), Latin caro (“flesh"), Albanian harr (“to cut, to mow"), Lithuanian skìrti (“separate"), Welsh ysgar (“separate"). See also sharp.

From Wiktionary
Middle English scheren from Old English sceran sker-¹ in Indo-European roots N., from Middle English shere from Old English scēar sker-¹ in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition