Shear (shēr), v. t. [imp. Sheared (?) or Shore (&unr_;);p. p. Sheared or Shorn (&unr_;); p. pr. & vb. n. Shearing.] [OE. sheren, scheren, to shear, cut, shave, AS. sceran, scieran, scyran; akin to D. & G. scheren, Icel. skera, Dan. ski&unr_;re, Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;. Cf. Jeer, Score, Shard, Share, Sheer to turn aside.] 1. To cut, clip, or sever anything from with shears or a like instrument; as, to shear sheep; to shear cloth.
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&hand_; It is especially applied to the cutting of wool from sheep or their skins, and the nap from cloth.
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2. To separate or sever with shears or a similar instrument; to cut off; to clip (something) from a surface; as, to shear a fleece.
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Before the golden tresses . . . were shorn away. Shak.
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3. To reap, as grain. [Scot.] Jamieson.
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4. Fig.: To deprive of property; to fleece.
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5. (Mech.) To produce a change of shape in by a shear. See Shear, n., 4.
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Shear, v. i. 1. To deviate. See Sheer.
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2. (Engin.) 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.
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