sheer

sheer
sheer1
adjective
1》 nothing other than; unmitigated: sheer hard work.
2》 (of a cliff, wall, etc.) perpendicular or nearly so.
3》 (of a fabric) very thin.
adverb
1》 perpendicularly.
2》 archaic completely; right.
Derivatives
sheerly adverb
sheerness noun
Origin
ME: prob. an alt. of dialect shire 'pure, clear', from the Gmc base of shine.
————————
sheer2
verb
1》 (especially of a boat) swerve or change course quickly.
2》 avoid or move away from an unpleasant topic.
noun a sudden deviation from a course.
Origin
C17: perh. from Mid. Low Ger. scheren 'to shear'.
Usage
Confusion can arise between the verbs sheer and shear. Sheer means ‘swerve or change course quickly’ (the boat sheers off the bank), whereas shear usually means ‘cut the wool off a sheep’ or ‘break off’ (the wing had been sheared off).
————————
sheer3
noun the upward slope of a ship's lines towards the bow and stern.
Origin
C17: prob. from shear.

English new terms dictionary. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Sheer — Sheer, n. 1. (Naut.) (a) The longitudinal upward curvature of the deck, gunwale, and lines of a vessel, as when viewed from the side. (b) The position of a vessel riding at single anchor and swinging clear of it. [1913 Webster] 2. A turn or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Sheer — Sheer, a. [OE. shere, skere, pure, bright, Icel. sk?rr; akin to sk[=i]rr, AS. sc[=i]r, OS. sk[=i]ri, MHG. sch[=i]r, G. schier, Dan. sk?r, Sw. sk[ a]r, Goth. skeirs clear, and E. shine. [root]157. See {Shine}, v. i.] 1. Bright; clear; pure;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Sheer — may refer to: *Sheer Music, a record label *Sheer curation, a lightweight approach to digital curation *Sheer (textile), for sheer textiles and fabrics *Sheer is a measure of longitudinal deck curvature in naval architecture.ee also*Shear *Shere… …   Wikipedia

  • Sheer — Sheer, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Sheered}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Sheering}.] [D. sheren to shear, cut, withdraw, warp. See {Shear}.] To decline or deviate from the line of the proper course; to turn aside; to swerve; as, a ship sheers from her course; a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • sheer — sheer; sheer·ly; sheer·ness; tab·a·sheer; …   English syllables

  • sheer — sheer1 [shir] vi. [var. of SHEAR, prob. infl. by Du or LowG scheren, to cut, deviate, warp away] to turn aside sharply from a course; swerve vt. to cause to sheer n. 1. a sudden change of course; abrupt turn; swerve 2. the oblique heading or… …   English World dictionary

  • Sheer — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Gordy Sheer (* 1971), US amerikanischer Rennrodler Ireen Sheer (* 1949), deutsch britische Schlagersängerin Siehe auch: Scheer Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsk …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • sheer — c.1200, exempt, free from guilt, later schiere thin, sparse (c.1400), from O.E. scir bright, clear, influenced by O.N. cognate scær bright, clean, pure, from P.Gmc. *skairijaz (Cf. O.S. skiri, O.Fris. skire, Ger. schier, Goth. skeirs clean, pure… …   Etymology dictionary

  • sheer — [adj1] abrupt, steep arduous, erect, headlong, perpendicular, precipitate, precipitous, sideling, upright; concepts 490,581 Ant. moderate, slow sheer [adj2] utter, absolute altogether, arrant, blasted, blessed, complete, confounded, downright,… …   New thesaurus

  • sheer — Ⅰ. sheer [1] ► ADJECTIVE 1) nothing but; absolute: sheer hard work. 2) (of a cliff, wall, etc.) perpendicular or nearly so. 3) (of a fabric) very thin. ► ADVERB ▪ perpendicularly. DERIVATIVES …   English terms dictionary

  • Sheer — Sheer, adv. Clean; quite; at once. [Obs.] Milton. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”