shear.
To remove the fleece from (a sheep, llama, etc.) by clipping.
Meaning & usage
To remove the fleece from (a sheep, llama, etc.) by clipping.
shear the llamas
To cut the hair of (a person).
shear the afro off someone's head
To cut, originally with a sword or other bladed weapon, now usually with shears, or as if using shears.
To deform because of forces pushing in opposite directions.
To change in direction or speed.
To transform by displacing every point in a direction parallel to some given line by a distance proportional to the point’s distance from the line.
To make a vertical cut in coal.
(also 'shear off') To break or suddenly separate because of excessive force, eg. a bolt.
To reap, as grain.
To deprive of property; to fleece.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der. Proto-Germanic *skeraną Proto-West Germanic *skeran Old English sċieran Middle English scheren English shear From Middle English sheren, scheren, from Old English sċieran (“to shear; to shave”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeran, from Proto-Germanic *skeraną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”). Cognate with West Frisian skarre, Low German, Dutch, and German scheren, Danish skære, Norwegian Bokmål skjære, Norwegian Nynorsk skjera, Swedish skära, Faroese and Icelandic skera, (borrowed from Germanic) Finnish keritä; and (from Indo-European) with Kamkata-viri ċarë́- (“to chop”), Ancient Greek κείρω (keírō, “to cut off”), Latin caro (“flesh”), Albanian shqerr (“to tear, cut”), harr (“to cut, to mow”), Lithuanian ski̇̀rti (“separate”), Welsh ysgar (“separate”). See also sharp.
A cutting tool similar to scissors, but often larger.
A large machine use for cutting sheet metal.
The act of shearing, or something removed by shearing.
Forces that push in opposite directions.
The phenomenon of wind shear.
A specific instance of wind shear.
We hit a nasty shear on approach and had to go around.
A transformation that displaces every point in a direction parallel to some given line by a distance proportional to the point's distance from the line.
The response of a rock to deformation usually by compressive stress, resulting in particular textures.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der. Proto-Germanic *skeraną Proto-West Germanic *skeran Old English sċieran Middle English scheren English shear From Middle English sheren, scheren, from Old English sċieran (“to shear; to shave”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeran, from Proto-Germanic *skeraną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”). Cognate with West Frisian skarre, Low German, Dutch, and German scheren, Danish skære, Norwegian Bokmål skjære, Norwegian Nynorsk skjera, Swedish skära, Faroese and Icelandic skera, (borrowed from Germanic) Finnish keritä; and (from Indo-European) with Kamkata-viri ċarë́- (“to chop”), Ancient Greek κείρω (keírō, “to cut off”), Latin caro (“flesh”), Albanian shqerr (“to tear, cut”), harr (“to cut, to mow”), Lithuanian ski̇̀rti (“separate”), Welsh ysgar (“separate”). See also sharp.
Misspelling of sheer.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der. Proto-Germanic *skeraną Proto-West Germanic *skeran Old English sċieran Middle English scheren English shear From Middle English sheren, scheren, from Old English sċieran (“to shear; to shave”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeran, from Proto-Germanic *skeraną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”). Cognate with West Frisian skarre, Low German, Dutch, and German scheren, Danish skære, Norwegian Bokmål skjære, Norwegian Nynorsk skjera, Swedish skära, Faroese and Icelandic skera, (borrowed from Germanic) Finnish keritä; and (from Indo-European) with Kamkata-viri ċarë́- (“to chop”), Ancient Greek κείρω (keírō, “to cut off”), Latin caro (“flesh”), Albanian shqerr (“to tear, cut”), harr (“to cut, to mow”), Lithuanian ski̇̀rti (“separate”), Welsh ysgar (“separate”). See also sharp.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.