Shear

·vt To reap, as grain.

II. Shear ·vi To deviate. ·see Sheer.

III. Shear ·vt A shearing;

— used in designating the age of sheep.

IV. Shear ·vt To produce a change of shape in by a shear. ·see Shear, ·noun, 4.

V. Shear ·vt Fig.: To deprive of property; to Fleece.

VI. Shear ·vt To cut, clip, or sever anything from with shears or a like instrument; as, to shear sheep; to shear cloth.

VII. Shear ·vt A pair of shears;

— now always used in the plural, but formerly also in the singular. ·see Shears.

VIII. Shear ·vt To separate or sever with shears or a similar instrument; to cut off; to clip (something) from a surface; as, to shear a fleece.

IX. Shear ·vi To become more or less completely divided, as a body under the action of forces, by the sliding of two contiguous parts relatively to each other in a direction parallel to their plane of contact.

X. Shear ·vt A strain, or change of shape, of an elastic body, consisting of an extension in one direction, an equal compression in a perpendicular direction, with an unchanged magnitude in the third direction.

XI. Shear ·vt An action, resulting from applied forces, which tends to cause two contiguous parts of a body to slide relatively to each other in a direction parallel to their plane of contact;

— also called shearing stress, and tangential stress.