sheep-tick 
sheep-tick (shep'tik), n. 1. A pupiparous dip- 
terous insect of the family Hippoboscidee, Me- 
loph<if/ns oi'inus, which infests sheep. It is com- 
mon i'a pasture-grounds about the commencement of 
summer. The pupsc laid by the female are shining oval 
bodies, like the pips of small apples, which are to be seen 
attached by the pointed ends to the wool of the sheep. 
From these issues the tick, which is horny, bristly, of a 
rusty-ocher color, and destitute of wings. It fixes its head 
in the skin of the sheep, and extracts the blood, leaving 
a large round tumor. Also called sheep-louse. See cut on 
preceding page. 
2. Same as sheep-louse, 2. 
sheepwalk (shep'wak), . A pasture for sheep; 
a tract of considerable extent where sheep feed. 
See sheep-run. 
It is only within the last few years that the straths and 
glens of Sutherland have been cleared of their inhabitants, 
and that the whole country has been converted into an im- 
mense sheep walk. 
Quoted in Mayhem's London Labour and London Poor, 
[II. 310. 
sheep-walker (shep'wa/'ker), n. A sheep-mas- 
ter; one who keeps a sheepwalk. Encyc. Diet. 
[Colloq.] 
sheep-wash (shep'wosh), H. 1. Alotionprwash 
applied to the fleece or skin of sheep, either to 
kill vermin or to preserve the wool. 2. A 
sheep-washing (preparatory to sheep-shearing), 
or the feast held on that occasion. 
A seed-cake at fastens ; and a lusty cheese-cake at our 
sheepe-wash. 
Two Lancashire Lovers (1640), p. 19. (UaUiwell.) 
Also slieep-dip. 
sheep- Whistling (shep'hwis"ling), . Whis- 
tling after sheep ; tending sheep. 
An old sheep-whistling rogue, a ram-tender. 
Shak., W. T., iv. 4. 805. 
sheep-worm (shep ' werm), n. A nematoid 
worm, Trichocephalus affinis, infesting the cte- 
cum of sheep. 
sheepy (she'pi), a. [< sheep 1 + -i/ 1 .] Pertain- 
ing to or resembling sheep ; sheepish. Chaucer. 
sheer 1 (sher), a. [< (a) ME. siiere, scheere, schere, 
skere, < AS. as if "sciere = Icel. skxrr = Sw. skdr 
= Dan. skjeer, bright, clear, sheer, pure; merged 
in ME. with (b) ME. shire, schire, schi/re, shir, < 
AS. scir, bright, = OS. sicir, skiri = OFries. skire 
= MD. schir = MLG. schir, LG. schicr = MHG. 
schir, G. schier, clear, free from knots, = Icel. 
skirr = Sw. skir = Goth, skeirs, bright, clear; 
< Teut. -\/ ski, in AS. scinan, etc., shine : see 
shine.'] If. Pure; clear; bright; shining. 
The blod schot for scham in-to his schyre face. 
Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight (E. E. T. S.), 1. 317. 
Had lifte awey the grave stone, 
That clothed was as snow shire. 
Cursor Mundi, MS. Coll. Trin. Cantab, f. 106. (HaUiwell.) 
Thou sheer, immaculate, and silver fountain, 
From whence this stream through muddy passages 
Hath held his current and denied himself ! 
Shall., Rich. II., v. 3. 61. 
2. Uncombined with anything else ; simple ; 
mere ; bare ; by itself. 
If she say I am not fourteen pence on the score for sheer 
ale, score me up for the lyingest knave in Christendom. 
Shalt., T. of the 8., Ind., ii. 25. 
Thou never hadst in thy house, to stay men's stomachs, 
A piece of Suffolk cheese, or gammen of bacon, 
Or any esculent, but sheer drink only. 
ilamiiujer, New Way to Pay Old Debts, iv. 2. 
3. Absolute; utter; downright: as, sheer non- 
sense orignorance; s/ieerwaste; sheer stupidity . 
Poor Britton did as he was bid then went home, took 
to his bed, and died in a few days of sheer fright, a victim 
to practical joking. 
J. Ashlon, Social Life in Reign of Queen Anne, II. 37. 
Here is a necessity, on the one side, that I should do that 
which, on the other side, it appeal's to be a sheer impossi- 
bility that I should even attempt, De Quintey. 
A conviction of inward defilement so sheer took posses- 
sion of me that death seemed better than life. 
H. James, Subs, and Shad., p. 126. 
Mr. Jonathan Rossiter held us all by the sheer force of 
his personal character and will, just as the ancient mari- 
ner held the wedding guest with his glittering eye. 
H . B. Stowe, Oldtown, p. 424. 
4. Straight up or straight down ; perpendicu- 
lar; precipitous; unobstructed: as, a sheer de- 
scent. 
This "little cliff " arose, a sheer unobstructed precipice 
of black shining rock. Poe, Tales, I. 161. 
Upon a rock that, high and sheer, 
Rose from the mountain's breast. 
Bryant, Hunter's Vision. 
5. Very thin and delicate; diaphanous: espe- 
cially said of cambric or muslin. 
Fine white batistes, French lawns, and sheer organdies 
delicately hemstitched. 
New York Evening Post, March 8, 1890. 
Sheer 1 (sher), adv. [< ME. "schere (= MLG. 
schire = G. schier); < sheerl, .] Quite; right; 
straight; clean. 
5562 
You give good fees, and those beget good causes ; 
The prerogative of your crowns will carry the matter, 
Carry it sheer. Fletcher, Spanish Curate, iii. 1. 
Sturdiest oaks, 
Bow'd their stiff necks, loaden with stormy blasts, 
Or torn up sheer. Milton, P. R., iv. 419. 
Sheer he cleft the bow asunder. 
Longfellow, Hiawatha, vii. 
She, cut off sheer from every natural aid. 
Browning, Ring and Book, IV. 720. 
Then we came to the isle _*olian, where dwelt .-Kiilus, 
... in a floating island, and all about it is a wall of 
bronze unbroken, and the cliff runs up sheer tram the sea. 
Butcher and Lang, Odyssey, x. 
sheer 1 ! (sher), v. t. [< ME. (a) sheren, scheren, 
skeren (= OSw. skeera = ODan. skeere), (b) also 
schiren, skiren, make bright or pure ; (. sheer^, a.~\ 
To make pure ; clear ; purify. 
sheer 2 !, v. An obsolete spelling of shear 1 . 
sheer 3 (sher), v. i. [Formerly also shear, shere; 
a particular use of sheer 2 , now spelled shear, 
due to D. influence, or directly < D. scheren, 
shear, cut, barter, jest, refl. withdraw, go away, 
warp, stretch, = G. scheren, refl., withdraw, take 
oneself off: see shear 1 .'] Naut., to swerve or 
deviate from a line or course ; turn aside or 
away, as for the purpose of avoiding collision 
or other danger : as, to sheer off from a rock. 
They boorded him againe aa before, and threw foure 
kedgers or grapnalls in iron chaiues : then shearing off, 
they thought so to have torne downe the grating. 
Capt. John Smith, True Travels, I. 52. 
As ye barke shered by y canow, he shote him close under 
her side, in y e head. 
Bradford, Plymouth Plantation, p. 317. 
If they're hard upon you, brother, . . . give 'em a wide 
berth, sheer off and part company cheerily. 
Dickens, Dombey and Son, \\xix. 
To Sheer alongside, to come carefully or by a curving 
movement alongside any object. 
sheer 3 (sher), n. [< sheer 3 , t'.] 1 . The rise from 
a horizontal plane of the longitudinal lines of 
a ship as seen in looking along its side. These 
lines are more or less curved ; when they do not rise no- 
ticeably at the bow and stern, as is most common, the 
ship is said to have a straight sheer or little sheer. See 
cut under forebody. 
The amount of rise which gives the curvilinear form of 
the top side, decks, etc., is termed the sheer of these lines. 
Thearle, Naval Arch., 90. 
In side-wheel boats the guards are wide enough to in- 
close the paddle-boxes. There is a very slight sheer, or 
rise, at the bows, and a smaller rise at the stern, so that 
the deck is practically level The Century, XXVUI. 365. 
2. The position in which a ship at single anchor 
is placed to keep her clear of the anchor. 3. 
The paint-strake or sheer-strake of a vessel. 
4. A curving course or sweep ; a deviation or 
divergence from a particular course. 
When she was almost abeam of us they gave her a wide 
sheer; this brought her so close that the faces of the peo- 
ple aboard were distinctly visible. 
W. C. Russell, Sailor's Sweetheart, v. 
[Nautical in all uses.] 
Sheer draft. Seedrajtl. Sheer plan. SameassAeer 
draft. Sheer ratline. See ratline. To break sheer. 
See break. To quicken the sheer, in ship-building, to 
shorten the radius of the curve. To Straighten the 
Sheer, to lengthen the radius of the curve. 
sheer-batten (sher'bat'n), n. 1. Naut., same 
as sheer-pole, 2. 2. In ship-building, a strip 
nailed to the ribs to indicate the position of 
the wales or bends preparatory to bolting the 
planks on. 
sheer-hooks (sher'huks), n, pi. [Prop, shear- 
hooks; cf. shearing-hooks. Sheer is the old spell- 
ing, but retained prob. because of association 
with the also nau- 
tical sheer 3 .'] A /-? 
combination of u 
hooks having the 
inner or concave 
sheet 
Sheer-hooks. 
curve sharpened, so as to cut through whatever 
is caught; especially, such hooks formerly used 
in naval engagements to cut the enemy's rig- 
ging. 
sheer-hulk (sher'hulk), . An old dismasted 
ship, with a pair of sheers mounted on it for 
masting ships. Also shear-hulk. See cut in 
next column. 
Here, a sheer hulk, lies poor Tom Bowling, 
The darling of the crew ; 
No more he'll hear the tempest howling, 
For Death has broached him to. 
C. Dibdin, Tom Bowling. 
sheering-hookst, pi- See shearing-hooks. 
sheer-leg (sher'leg), n. 1. One of the spars 
forming sheers. 2. pi. Same as sheers. 
sheerlesst, . See shearless. 
sheerly (.sher'li), adv. [< ME. schyrly; < sheer 1 
+ -ly' 2 .] Absolutely; thoroughly; quite. 
There he schrof hym schyrly, & schewed his mysdedez 
Of the more & the mynne, & merci besechez, 
& of absolucioun he on the segge calles. 
Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1880. 
Turn all the stories over in the world yet, 
And search through all the memories of mankind, 
And find me such a friend ! h' 'as out-done all, 
Outstripp'd em sheerly, all, all, thou hast, Polydore ! 
To die for me ! Fletcher, Mad Lover, v. 4. 
sheermant, An obsolete form of shear- 
man. 
sheer-mold (sher'mold), n. In ship-building, a 
long thin plank for adjusting the ram-line on 
the ship's side, in order to form the sheer of 
the ship. One of its edges is curved to the ex- 
tent of sheer intended to be given. 
sheer-pole (sher'pol), n. 1. One of the spars 
of a sheers, or a single spar stayed by guys, 
and serving as a substitute for sheers of the 
usual form. 2. Naut., an iron rod placed hori- 
zontally along the shrouds on the outside, just 
above the deadeyes, and seized firmly to each 
shroud to prevent its turning. Also sheer-bat- 
ten. 
sheers (sherz), n. pi. If. An obsolete spelling 
of shears, 2. A hoisting apparatus used in 
masting or dismasting ships, putting in or 
taking out boilers, mounting or dismounting 
guns, etc., and consisting of two or more 
spars or poles fastened together near the 
top, with their lower ends separated to form 
a base. The legs are steadied by guys, and from the top 
depends the necessary tackle for hoisting. Permanent 
sheers, in dockyards, etc., are sloped together at the top, 
and crowned with an iron cap bolted thereto. The sheers 
used in masting, etc., are now usually mounted on a 
wharf, but were formerly placed on an old ship called a 
sheer-hulk. The apparatus is named from its resemblance 
in form to a cutting-shears. Also shears, shear-legs. 
sheer-strake (sher'strak), . [< sheer 3 + 
stroke.] In ship-building, same as paint-strake. 
Sheer strokes are the strakes of the plating (generally 
outer) which are adjacent to the principal decks. 
Thearle, Naval Arch., 298. 
Sheer Thursday (sher-therz'da). [<ME. shere 
Tlmrsdai, schere Thorsdai, scere Tliorsdai, < 
Icel. skiri-thorsdagr (= Sw. skdr-torsdag = 
Dan. skjeer-torsdag), < skira, cleanse, purify, 
baptize (< skirr, pure), + thorsdagr, Thursday: 
see sheeri, a., and Thursday.] The Thursday 
of Holy Week; Maundy Thursday. Compare 
Chare Thursday. 
And the nexte daye, that was Shyre Thursdaye, aboute 
noone, we landed at Kyryell in Normandy, and rode to 
Depe the same nyght. Sir E. Guyl/orde, Pylgrymage, p. 3. 
Sheerwatert, An obsolete form of shear- 
water. 
sheesheh (she'she), n. [< Pers. word signify- 
ing ' glass.'] An Eastern pipe with long flex- 
ible stem: like the narghile, except that the 
water-vessel is of glass. 
Sheet 1 (shet), n. [Under this form (early mod. 
E. also sheat) are merged three words of differ- 
ent formation, but of the same radical origin: 
(a) < ME. shete, schete, scheete, ssete, < AS. scete, 
scyte (not "scyta as in Lye), pi. scytan, a sheet 
(of cloth) ; (6) < ME. schete,< AS. scedta, the foot 
of a sail (scedt-line, a line from the foot of a sail, 
a sheet), = MD. "schote, D. schoot= MLG. scliote, 
LG. schote, > G. scliote, a line from the foot of 
a sail; the preceding being secondary forms of 
the more orig. noun ; (c) < ME. schete, scet, < AS. 
scedt, scet, pi. scedtas, scedttas, scetas, a sheet 
(of cloth), a towel, the corner or fold of a 
garment, also a projecting angle (tltry-scedt, 
three-cornered, etc.), a part (eortliuu ncedt, 
