# shear

Pronunciation: say "SHEER" US /ʃɪɹ/, UK /ʃɪə(ɹ)/

## Verb

1. To remove the fleece from a sheep, llama, or similar animal by clipping it close.
   - Simple: To cut the wool or fleece off a sheep or similar animal.
   - _The ranch hands shear hundreds of sheep before the wool market opens._
   - _Skilled workers shear faster when the animals stay calm._
3. To cut the hair of a person, often closely.
   - Simple: To cut off someone's hair, often all of it.
   - _The monastery elders shear each novice on the day he takes his vows._
   - _She asked them not to shear her completely, just to trim the ends._
4. To cut through something, now usually with shears or something similar, though in early use with a sword or other blade.
   - Simple: To cut through something with a blade or sharp edge.
   - _The blade sheared through bone and sinew alike._
   - _Workers shear the steel cables with a single powerful stroke._
5. To break or suddenly separate because of excessive force, as a bolt does under strain.
   - Simple: To suddenly break or snap off because of too much force.
   - _Under the strain of the gust, several rivets sheared off at once._
   - _Cheap fasteners shear long before reaching their rated load._
7. Of a material or body, to be distorted by forces that push its parts in opposite directions.
   - Simple: To bend or change shape when pushed in two opposite directions.
   - _The metal block sheared visibly as the press applied uneven pressure._
   - _Soft sediments shear more readily than solid bedrock._
12. To strip someone of their money or possessions, especially through trickery or exploitation.
   - Simple: To take all of someone's money or things, often by cheating.
   - _The crooked broker sheared his clients of their life savings._
   - _Unscrupulous lenders shear vulnerable borrowers with hidden fees and penalties._
13. Of wind or a current, to change abruptly in direction or speed across a short distance.
   - Simple: Of wind, to suddenly change its speed or direction.
   - _The airflow sheared violently just above the runway._
   - _Crosswinds often shear near mountain ridges, surprising pilots._
15. To transform a figure by sliding every point parallel to a fixed line, by an amount proportional to that point's distance from the line.
   - Simple: To slant a shape by sliding its parts sideways, moving the parts farther from a fixed line by more.
   - _To shear a rectangle, the program shifts each row sideways in proportion to its height._
   - _The animator sheared the sprite to suggest rapid motion._
17. To make a vertical cut into a coal seam, typically to free a section of coal for removal.
   - Simple: To make a straight downward cut into a coal seam during mining.
   - _Before the explosives went in, the crew sheared along the seam's lower edge._
   - _Older machines shear far more slowly than modern continuous miners._
18. To cut down and harvest grain such as wheat or barley. *(dialectal, Scotland)*
   - Simple: To cut and gather grain crops at harvest time.
   - _The reapers sheared the ripe oats from dawn until dusk._
   - _In late summer, the whole village would shear the standing grain._

## Noun

2. A scissor-like cutting tool, usually larger and heavier than scissors, used for tougher materials.
   - Simple: A cutting tool like big scissors, used to cut things such as metal or cloth.
   - _The factory's hydraulic shear cut the steel bars to length._
   - _A good shear can slice through sheet metal with a single stroke._
6. Forces that push in opposite directions across a material.
   - Simple: A pushing force where two parts are pushed in opposite directions.
   - _The beam buckled under the shear created by the shifting load._
   - _Geologists measured the shear along the fault line._
8. A rapid change in wind speed or direction over a relatively short distance, especially as a hazard to aircraft.
   - Simple: A sudden change in wind speed or direction over a short distance.
   - _Forecasters tracked the shear building ahead of the cold front._
   - _The crew encountered severe shear just after takeoff._
9. The act of shearing, or the fleece removed in the process.
   - Simple: The job of cutting off a sheep's wool, or the wool that is cut off.
   - _The spring shear yielded several bales of fine wool._
   - _After the shear, the flock looked noticeably smaller._
10. An individual occurrence of wind shear, the abrupt change in wind speed or direction across a relatively short distance.
   - Simple: A single time when the wind suddenly changes its speed or direction over a short distance.
   - _The pilot reported a violent shear just before touching down._
   - _Low-level shears around the airfield delayed several departures._
11. A large powered machine used to cut sheet metal, driving a heavy blade across the surface to part it cleanly.
   - Simple: A big powered machine that cuts flat pieces of metal.
   - _The shop's hydraulic shear could cut through half-inch steel plate._
   - _An operator guided each panel under the shear's descending blade._
14. The way a rock body deforms under stress (usually compression) producing distinctive textures in the resulting rock.
   - Simple: The way rock changes shape and texture when strong forces squeeze it.
   - _The schist's foliation records intense shear deep within the mountain belt._
   - _Mapping the shear across the fault zone revealed the direction of ancient stress._
16. A geometric transformation that slides every point parallel to a fixed line by a distance proportional to that point's distance from the line.
   - Simple: A way of slanting a shape by sliding its parts sideways based on how far they are from a line.
   - _Applying a shear to the grid skews all the squares uniformly._
   - _In the matrix, a horizontal shear leaves the vertical positions unchanged._

## Origin

From Middle English sheren, from Old English sċieran ("to shear; to shave"), tracing back through Proto-Germanic *skeraną to the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)ker- ("to cut"). It is related to Dutch and German scheren, Swedish skära, and Latin caro ("flesh").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/shear (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).