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Webster 1913 Edition

Sheer

Sheer

,
Adj.
[OE.
shere
,
skere
, pure, bright, Icel.
sk[GREEK]rr
; akin to
skīrr
, AS.
scīr
, OS.
skīri
, MHG.
schīr
, G.
schier
, Dan.
sk[GREEK]r
, Sw.
skär
, Goth.
skeirs
clear, and E.
shine
. √157. See
Shine
,
Verb.
I.
]
1.
Bright; clear; pure; unmixed.
“Sheer ale.”
Shak.
Thou
sheer
, immaculate, and silver fountain.
Shakespeare
2.
Very thin or transparent; – applied to fabrics;
as,
sheer
muslin
.
3.
Being only what it seems to be; obvious; simple; mere; downright;
as,
sheer
folly;
sheer
nonsense
.
“A sheer impossibility.”
De Quincey.
It is not a
sheer
advantage to have several strings to one’s bow.
M. Arnold.
4.
Stright up and down; vertical; prpendicular.
A
sheer
precipice of a thousand feet.
J. D. Hooker.
It was at least
Nine roods of
sheer
ascent.
Wordsworth.

Sheer

,
adv.
Clean; quite; at once.
[Obs.]
Milton.

Sheer

,
Verb.
T.
[See
Shear
.]
To shear.
[Obs.]
Dryden.

Sheer

,
Verb.
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 horse
sheers
at a bicycle
.
To sheer off
,
to turn or move aside to a distance; to move away.
–
To sheer up
,
to approach obliquely.

Sheer

,
Noun.
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.
2.
A turn or change in a course.
Give the canoe a
sheer
and get nearer to the shore.
Cooper.
3.
pl.
Shears See
Shear
.
Sheer batten
(Shipbuilding)
,
a long strip of wood to guide the carpenters in following the sheer plan.
–
Sheer boom
,
a boom slanting across a stream to direct floating logs to one side.
–
Sheer hulk
.
See
Shear hulk
, under
Hulk
.
–
Sheer plan
, or
Sheer draught
(Shipbuilding)
,
a projection of the lines of a vessel on a vertical longitudinal plane passing through the middle line of the vessel.
–
Sheer pole
(Naut.)
,
an iron rod lashed to the shrouds just above the dead-eyes and parallel to the ratlines.
–
Sheer strake
(Shipbuilding)
,
the strake under the gunwale on the top side.
Totten.
–
To break sheer
(Naut.)
,
to deviate from sheer, and risk fouling the anchor.

Webster 1828 Edition

Sheer

SHEER

,
Adj.
1. Pure; clear; separate from anything foreign; unmingled; as sheer ale. But this application is unusual. We saysheer argument, sheer wit, sheer falsehook, &c.
2. Clear; thin; as sheer muslin.

SHEER

,
adv.
Clean; quite; at once. Obs.

SHEER

,
Verb.
T.
To sheer. [Not in use.]

SHEER

,
Verb.
I.
[See Shear, the sense of which is to separate.]
1. In seamen's language, to decline or deviate from the line of the proper course, as a ship when not steered with steadiness.
2. To slip or move aside.

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