sheer

sheer
sheer1
—sheerly, adv. —sheerness, n.
/shear/, adj., sheerer, sheerest, adv., n.
adj.
1. transparently thin; diaphanous, as some fabrics: sheer stockings.
2. unmixed with anything else: We drilled a hundred feet through sheer rock.
3. unqualified; utter: sheer nonsense.
4. extending down or up very steeply; almost completely vertical: a sheer descent of rock.
5. Brit. Obs. bright; shining.
adv.
6. clear; completely; quite: ran sheer into the thick of battle.
7. perpendicularly; vertically; down or up very steeply.
n.
8. a thin, diaphanous material, as chiffon or voile.
[1175-1225; ME scere, shere, schere free, clear, bright, thin; prob. < ON skaerr; change of sk- > s(c)h- perh. by influence of the related OE scir (E dial. shire clear, pure, thin); c. G schier, ON skir, Goth skeirs clear; see SHINE]
Syn. 2. mere, simple, pure, unadulterated. 3. absolute, downright. 4. abrupt, precipitous. 6. totally, entirely.
Ant. 1. opaque.
sheer2
/shear/, v.i.
1. to deviate from a course, as a ship; swerve.
v.t.
2. to cause to sheer.
3. Shipbuilding. to give sheer to (a hull).
n.
4. a deviation or divergence, as of a ship from its course; swerve.
5. Shipbuilding. the fore-and-aft upward curve of the hull of a vessel at the main deck or bulwarks.
6. Naut. the position in which a ship at anchor is placed to keep it clear of the anchor.
[1620-30; special use of SHEER1; cf. sense development of CLEAR]

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Universalium. 2010.

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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

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