Shear

[ʃɪə] or [ʃɪr]

Definition

(noun.) a large edge tool that cuts sheet metal by passing a blade through it.

(noun.) (physics) a deformation of an object in which parallel planes remain parallel but are shifted in a direction parallel to themselves; 'the shear changed the quadrilateral into a parallelogram'.

(verb.) become deformed by forces tending to produce a shearing strain.

(verb.) cut with shears; 'shear hedges'.

(verb.) cut or cut through with shears; 'shear the wool off the lamb'.

Typed by Ann--From WordNet

Definition

(v. t.) To cut, clip, or sever anything from with shears or a like instrument; as, to shear sheep; to shear cloth.

(v. t.) To separate or sever with shears or a similar instrument; to cut off; to clip (something) from a surface; as, to shear a fleece.

(v. t.) To reap, as grain.

(v. t.) Fig.: To deprive of property; to fleece.

(v. t.) To produce a change of shape in by a shear. See Shear, n., 4.

(v. t.) A pair of shears; -- now always used in the plural, but formerly also in the singular. See Shears.

(v. t.) A shearing; -- used in designating the age of sheep.

(v. t.) An action, resulting from applied forces, which tends to cause two contiguous parts of a body to slide relatively to each other in a direction parallel to their plane of contact; -- also called shearing stress, and tangential stress.

(v. t.) A strain, or change of shape, of an elastic body, consisting of an extension in one direction, an equal compression in a perpendicular direction, with an unchanged magnitude in the third direction.

(v. i.) To deviate. See Sheer.

(v. i.) To become more or less completely divided, as a body under the action of forces, by the sliding of two contiguous parts relatively to each other in a direction parallel to their plane of contact.

Inputed by Jill

Synonyms and Synonymous

v. a. Cut, clip.

Typist: Meg

Definition

v.t. to cut or clip: to clip with shears or any other instrument: (Scot.) to reap with a sickle.—v.i. to separate cut penetrate: in mining to make a vertical cut in the coal:—pa.t. sheared (obs.) shore; pa.p. sheared or shorn.—n. a shearing or clipping: a strain where compression is answered by elongation at right angles: curve deviation.—ns. Shear′-bill the scissor-bill cut-water or black skimmer; Shear′er; Shear′-hog a sheep after the first shearing; Shear′ing the act or operation of cutting with shears: what is cut off with shears: (Scot.) the time of reaping: the process of preparing shear-steel: (geol.) the process by which shear-structure (q.v.) has been produced; Shear′ling a sheep only once sheared; Shear′man one whose occupation is to shear cloth; Shears (pl. and sing.) an instrument for shearing or cutting consisting of two blades that meet each other: a hoisting apparatus (see Sheers): anything resembling shears as even a pair of wings (Spens.); Shear′-steel steel suitable for the manufacture of shears and other edge-tools; Shear′-struc′ture (geol.) a structure often seen in volcanic rocks due to the reciprocal compression and elongation of various parts under great crust movements; Shear′-wa′ter a genus of oceanic birds allied to the petrels and varying from 8?to 14 inches in length.

Typed by Cecil