shear 
shard!, xlmnf^, scar 2 , score!, perhaps m'/v 1 , 
x/ii'in--, xlK'iirx. xli<-er'*, shred, shore!, etc.] I. 
trims. 1. To cut; specifically, to clip or cut with 
a sharp instrument, as a knife, but especially 
with shears, scissors, or the like : as, to shear 
sheep; to shear cloth (that is, to clip the nap). 
The mete that she schar. 
Sir Degrecant (Thornton Romances), I. 801. 
Eftsoones her shallow ship away did slide. 
More swift then swallow sheres the liquid sky. 
Spenser, . Q., II. vl. 5. 
God tempers the wind, said Maria, to the shorn lamb. 
Sterne, Sentimental Journey (Paris). 
How strong, supple, and living the ship seems upon the 
billows ! 
With what a dip and rake she shears the flying sea ! 
H. L. Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque, i. 
2. To clip off ; remove by clipping : as, to shear 
a fleece. 
And sleping in hir barm upon a day, 
She made to clippe or shere his heer awey. 
Chaucer, Monk's Tide, 1. 77. 
How many griefs and sorrows that, like shears, 
Like fatal shears, are shearing off our lives still ! 
Fletcher (and another V), Prophetess, iii. 3. 
But she, the wan sweet maiden, shore away 
Clean from her forehead all that wealth of hair. 
Tennyson, Holy Grail. 
Hence 3. To fleece; strip bare, especially by 
swindling or sharp practice. 
Thus is he shorne 
Of eight score poundes a year for one poore corne 
Of pepper. Times' Whistle (E. E. T. S.), p. 68. 
In his speculation he had gone out to shear, and come 
home shorn. Mrs. J. H. Riddell, City and Suburb, xxvii. 
4f. To shave. 
Not only thou, but every myghty man, 
Though he were shorn ful hye upon his pan, 
Sholde have a wyf. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Monk's Tale, 1. 64. 
The seventeenth King was Egbert, who after twenty 
Years Reign forsook the World also, and shore himself a 
Monk. Baker, Chronicles, p. 6. 
5. To cut down or reap with a sickle or knife : 
as, to shear grain. [Old Eng. and Scotch.] 
And ye maun shear it wi' your knife, 
And no lose a stack [stalk] o' 't for your life. 
The Elfin Knight (Child's Ballads, I. 129). 
6f. To make or produce by cutting. 
Till that I see his body bare, 
And sithen my fyngir putte in thare within his hyde, 
And fele the wound the spere did schere rijt in his syde ; 
Are schalle I trowe no tales be-twene. York Plays, p. 453. 
7. To produce a shear in. See shear!, n , t 3. 
II. intrans. 1. To cut; cut, penetrate, or di- 
vide something with a sweeping motion. 
This heard Geraint, and, grasping at his sword, . . . 
Made but a single bound, and with a sweep of it 
Shore thro' the swarthy neck. Tennyson, Geraint. 
2. In mining, to make a vertical cut in the coal, 
or a cut at right angles to that made in " hol- 
ing." See hole 1 , v. t., 3. 3. To receive a strain 
of the kind called a shear. See shear!, n., 3. 
shear 1 (sher), n. [< shear 1 , v. Cf. share!.} l. 
A shearing or clipping: used in stating the 
age of sheep: as, a sheep of one shear, a two- 
shear sheep (that is, a sheep one or two years 
old), in allusion to the yearly shearing. 2. A 
barbed fish-spear with several prongs. E. H. 
Knight. 3. A strain consisting of a compres- 
sion in one direction with an elongation in the 
same ratio in a direction perpendicular to the 
first. Thus, in fig. 1, suppose a body in which the axis 
AC is compressed to ac. Suppose there is an axis of equal 
elongation, upon which take BD equal h 
to ac, so that after elongation it will 
be brought to bd, equal to AC. Then, 
all planes perpendicular to the plane 
of the diagram and parallel either to 
AB or to AD will remain undistorted, 
being simply rotated into positions 
parallel to ab or ad. If the body while 
undergoing strain be so rotated that 
a and b remain in coincidence with A 
and B (see fig. 2), the shear willbeseen 
B 
d 
Fig. i. 
to be an advance of all planes parallel 
li 
U c 
Fig. 2. 
to be an advance of all planes parallel 
to a fixed plane in parallel lines in those 
; lanes by amounts proportional to their 
istances from the fixed plane. A shear 
is often called a simple shear, meaning 
a shear uncompounded with any other 
strain. Any simple strain may be re- 
solved into a shear, a positive or negative elongation per- 
pendicular to the shear, and a positive or negative ex- 
pansion. 
4. Deflection or deviation from the straight ; 
curve or sweep; sheer : as, the shear of a boat. 
Some considerable shear to the bow lines will make a 
drier and safer boat. Sportsman's Gazetteer, p. 568. 
Complex Shear, a strain compounded of two or more 
simple shears. Double Shear, (a) In dynam., a com- 
pound of two shears. (6) In practical mech., a twofold 
doubling and welding. 
shear-t, [< ME. shere, schere, < AS. sceara 
(also in early glosses scerero, sceruru) (= 
5557 
OFries. skere, schere = D. schaar = OHG. skdr, 
skdra, pi. scan', MHG. schsere (prob. pi.), G. 
scheere, schere = Icel. skseri, shears; cf. Sw. 
skara, a reaping-hook, Dan. skjser, skjsere, plow- 
share, colter), < seeran (pret. scser), shear: see 
shear*. Cf. shared] Same as shears. 
This Sampson never sider drank ne wyn, 
Ne on his heed cam rasour noon ne shere. 
Chaucer, Monk's Tale, 1. 86. 
shear 3 !, * An obsolete form of sheer 3 . 
shearbill (sher'bil), n. The scissorbill, cut- 
water, or black skimmer; the bird Rhynchops 
iiii/i-ii : so called from the bill, which resembles 
a pair of shears. See cut under Rhynchops. 
sheardt, . An obsolete spelling of shard!. 
shearer (sher'er), n. [< ME. scherere, scherer 
= D. scheerder = OHG. scerari, skerare, MHG. 
G. scherer, a barber; as shear! + -er!.~\ 1. One 
who shears, (a) One who clips or shears sheep; a 
sheep-shearer. (6) One who shears cloth ; a shearman, 
(c) A machine used to shear cloth, (d) One who cuts 
down grain with a sickle ; a reaper. [Scotland and Ire- 
land.] 
2. A dyadic determining a simple shear. 
shear-grass (sher'gras), n. One of various 
sedgy or grassy plants with cutting leaves, as 
the saw-grass, Cladium Mariscus. 
shearhog (sher'hog), n. A sheep after the first 
shearing. Also, contracted, shernig, sharrag. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
He thought it a mere frustration of the purposes of 
language to talk of shearhogs and ewes to men who ha- 
bitually said sharrags and yowes. 
George Eliot, Mr. GilflTs Love Story, i. (Dames.) 
shear-hooks, n. pi. See sheer-hooks. 
shear-hulk, n. See sheer-hulk. 
shearing (sher'ing), n. [Verbal n. of shear!, 
.] 1. The act or operation of cutting by 
means of two edges of hardened steel, or the 
like, which pass one another closely, as in or- 
dinary shears and scissors, and in machines 
made on the same principle. 2. That which 
is shorn or clipped off ; that which is obtained 
by shearing: as, the shearings of cloth; the 
whole shearing of a flock. 3. A shearling. 
4. The act, operation, or time of reaping ; har- 
vest. [Scotland and Ireland.] 
O will ye fancy me, O, 
And gae and be the lady o' Drum, 
And lat your shearing abee, ? 
Laird of Drum (Child's Ballads, IV. 118). 
5. The process of producing shear-steel by 
condensing blistered steel and rendering it 
uniform. 6. In geol., the compression, elon- 
gation, and deformation of various kinds to 
which the components of rocks have frequent- 
ly been subjected in consequence of crust- 
movements ; the dynamic processes by which 
shear-structure has been produced. 7. In 
mining, the making of vertical cuts at the ends 
of a part of an undercut seam of coal, serv- 
ing to destroy the continuity of the strata and 
facilitate the breaking down of the mass. 
8. In dynam., the operation of producing a 
shear. 
shearing-hookst (sher'ing-huks), n. pi. [Also 
sheering-hooks ; < ME. shering-hokes.} A contri- 
vance for cutting the ropes of a vessel. Com- 
pare sheer-hooks. 
In goth the grapenel so ful of crokes, 
Among the ropes rennyth the shering-hokes. 
Chaucer, Good Women, 1. 641. 
shearing-machine (sheVing-ma-shen*), n. 1. 
A machine used for cutting plates and bars 
of iron and other metals. 2. A machine for 
shearing cloth, etc. 
shearing-stress (sher'ing-stres), n. A stress 
occasioned bv or tending to produce a shear. 
shearing-table (sher'mg-ta"bl), w. A portable 
bench fitted with straps or other conveniences 
for holding a sheep in position for shearing. 
shear-legs (sher'legz), n. pi. Same as sheers, 2. 
Shear-legs . . . are now frequently used by marine en- 
gineers for the purpose of placing boilers, engines, and 
other heavy machinery on board large steamers. 
Sci. Amer., N. 8., LIV. 39. 
shearlesst (sher'les), a. [Also sheerless; < shear 2 , 
shears, + -less.} Without shears or scissors. 
And ye maun shape it knife*, sheerless, 
And also sew it needle-, threedless. 
The Elfin Knight (Child's Ballads, I. 129). 
shearling (sher'ling), n. [< shear! + -ling!.] A 
sheep of one shear, or that has been once shorn. 
In the European provinces lambs do not pay the tax 
until they are shearlings. J. Baker, Turkey, p. 388. 
shearman (sher'man), H. ; pi. shearmen (-men). 
[Formerly also sheerman, sherman ; < ME. scher- 
waH,tteharifin; < shear! + man. Hence the sur- 
sheartail 
name Shearman, Sherman.} 1. One whose oc- 
cupation it is to shear cloth. 
Villain, thy father was a plasterer, 
And thou thyself a shearman, art thou not? 
Shalt., 2 Hen. VI., iv. 2. 141. 
This Lord Cromwell was born at Putney, a Village in 
Surrey near the Thames Side, Son to a Smith ; after whose 
Decease his Mother was married to a Sheer-man. 
Baker, Chronicles, p. 288. 
2f. A barber. 
Scharman, or scherman. Tonsor, attonsor. 
Prompt. Pan., p. 444. 
shearn, . Same as sham. 
shears (sherz), n. sing, and pi. [Formerly also 
sheers (still used in naut. sense : see sheers) ; < 
ME. sheres, sclicres, pi., also schere, shere, sing., 
Purchase-shears for cutting Metal. 
a and c, levers connected by a 
link-bar A, and respectively piv- 
oted at/ andy to the frame e. 
By the arrangement of the levers 
the movable blade d, attached to 
' , acts with a strong purchase in 
combination with tne stationary- 
blade cf, rigidly attached to the 
frame e. 
Shears for cutting Cloth. 
a, screw-pivot on which as a fulcrum each blade with its handle works. 
shears: sees/tear 2 .] 1. A cutting- or clipping- 
instrument consisting of two pivoted blades 
with beveled edges 
-** facing each other, 
such as is used for 
cutting cloth, or of a 
single piece of steel 
bent round until the 
blades meet, the elas- 
ticity of the back 
causing the blades to 
spring open when the 
pressure used in cut- 
ting has ceased. The 
latter is the kind used 
by farriers, sheep-shearers, 
weavers, etc. Shears of the 
first kind differ from scis- 
sors chiefly in being larger. Implements of similar form 
used for cutting metal are also called shears. See also 
cuts under clipping-shears and sheep-shears. 
Think you I bear the shears of destiny? 
Shale., K. John, iv. 2. 91. 
Time waited upon the shears, and, as soon as the thread 
was cut, caught the medals, and carried them to the river 
of Lethe. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, ii. 132. 
Puddled bars are also generally sheared hot, either by 
crocodile or guillotine shears, into lengths suitable for 
piling. W. H. Greenwood, Steel and Iron, p. 347. 
2. Something in the form of the blades of 
shears, (at) A pair of wings. 
Two sharpe winged sheares, 
Decked with diverse plumes, like painted Jayes, 
Were fixed at his backe to cut his ayery wayes. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. viii. 5. 
(6) In bookbinding, a long, heavy, curved knife, with a 
handle at one end and a heavy counterpoise at the other 
end of the blade, which cuts thick millboards, scissors- 
fashion, against a fixed straight knife on the side of an 
iron table, (c) An apparatus for raising heavy weights. 
See sheers, 2. 
3. The ways or track of a lathe, upon which 
the lathe-head, poppet-head, andrest are placed. 
4. A shears-moth Knight of the shears. See 
knight. Perpetual shears! Same as revolving shears. 
Revolving shears, a cylinder around which thin 
knife-blades are carried in a spiral, their edges revolving 
in contact with a fixed straight-edge called the ledger- 
blade. The machine is used to trim the uneven fibers 
from the face of woolen cloth. Rotary shears. See 
rotary. Sieve and Shears. See sieve and coscinomancy. 
There goes but a pair of shearst. See pairi. 
shears-moth (sherz'mdth), . One of certain 
noctuid moths ; a shears or sheartail, as Hadena 
dentina : an English collectors' name. Mames- 
tra glauca is the glaucous shears; Hadena di- 
dyma is the pale shears. 
shear-steel (sher'stel), . [So called from its 
applicability to the manufacture of shears, 
knives, scythes, etc.] Blister-steel which has 
been fagoted and drawn out into bars under 
the rolls or hammer: a repetition of the pro- 
cess produces what is known as double-shear 
Steel. The density and homogeneousness of the steel 
are increased by this process, and it is generally admitted 
that a better result is attained by hammering than by 
rolling. See steel. 
shear-structure (sher'struk"tur), . In geol., 
a structure superinduced in rocks by shearing ; 
a structure varying from lamellar to schistose, 
somewhat resembling the so-called "fluxion- 
structure" often seen in volcanic rocks, but 
produced by the flowing, not of molten, but of 
solid material, as one of the consequences of 
the immense strain by which the upheaval or 
plication of large masses of rock has been ac- 
companied. 
sheartail (sher'tal), . 1. A humming-bird 
of the genus Tltaiimastiira, having a very long 
forficate tail, like a pair of shears, as T. cora, 
T. henicura, etc. In the core hummer (to which the 
