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shearer
UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈʃɪərəʳ/US:USA pronunciation: respellingUSA pronunciation: respelling(shēr′ər)
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026shear /ʃɪr/USA pronunciation
v., sheared, sheared or shorn/ʃɔrn/USA pronunciation shear•ing, n. v. - Animal Husbandry to remove (hair, wool, etc.) from (an animal) by or as if by cutting:[~ + object]to shear wool from sheep.
- Mechanics
- [~ + object] to break (a wing of a plane) by great pressure from force parallel to it:The wind sheared the wing and the plane crashed.
- [no object] to break as the result of pressure:The wing sheared off and the plane dropped.
n. - Usually, shears. [plural]
- scissors of large size:a pair of shears.
- any of various cutting implements having two blades that suggest those of scissors:garden shears for trimming bushes.
shear•er, n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026Shear•er
(shēr′ər),USA pronunciation n.
- Biographical Moira (Moira Shearer King), born 1926, British ballerina.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026shear
(shēr),USA pronunciation v., sheared, sheared or shorn, shear•ing, n. v.t. - to cut (something).
- Animal Husbandryto remove by or as if by cutting or clipping with a sharp instrument:to shear wool from sheep.
- Animal Husbandryto cut or clip the hair, fleece, wool, etc., from:to shear sheep.
- to strip or deprive (usually fol. by of ):to shear someone of power.
- [Chiefly Scot.]to reap with a sickle.
- to travel through by or as if by cutting:Chimney swifts sheared the air.
v.i. - to cut or cut through something with a sharp instrument.
- to progress by or as if by cutting:The cruiser sheared through the water.
- Geology, Mechanics[Mech., Geol.]to become fractured along a plane as a result of forces acting parallel to the plane.
- Scottish Terms[Chiefly Scot.]to reap crops with a sickle.
n. - Usually, shears. (sometimes used with a sing. v.)
- scissors of large size (usually used with pair of ).
- any of various other cutting implements or machines having two blades that resemble or suggest those of scissors.
- Animal Husbandrythe act or process of shearing or being sheared.
- Animal Husbandrya shearing of sheep (used in stating the age of sheep):a sheep of one shear.
- Animal Husbandrythe quantity, esp. of wool or fleece, cut off at one shearing.
- one blade of a pair of large scissors.
- BuildingUsually, shears. (usually used with a pl. v.) Also, sheers. Also called shear legs, sheerlegs. 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.
- a machine for cutting rigid material, as metal in sheet or plate form, by moving the edge of a blade through it.
- Mechanics, Geologythe tendency of forces to deform or fracture a member or a rock in a direction parallel to the force, as by sliding one section against another.
- Physicsthe lateral deformation produced in a body by an external force, expressed as the ratio of the lateral displacement between two points lying in parallel planes to the vertical distance between the planes.
- bef. 900; (verb, verbal) Middle English sheren, Old English sceran, cognate with Dutch, German scheren, Old Norse skera; (noun, nominal) (in sense "tool for shearing'') Middle English sheres (plural), continuing Old English scērero, scēar, two words derived from the same root as the verb, verbal
'shearer' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
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