Word Meaning

shears definition and meaning

v. t. To cut, clip, or sever anything from with shears or a like instrument; as, to shear sheep; to shear cloth.
v. t. To separate or sever with shears or a similar instrument; to cut off; to clip (something) from a surface; as, to shear a fleece.
v. t. To reap, as grain.
v. t. Fig.: To deprive of property; to fleece.
v. t. To produce a change of shape in by a shear. See Shear, n., 4.
v. t. A pair of shears; -- now always used in the plural, but formerly also in the singular. See Shears.
v. t. A shearing; -- used in designating the age of sheep.
v. t. 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.
v. t. 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.
v. i. To deviate. See Sheer.
v. i. 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.
n. A cutting instrument.
n. An instrument consisting of two blades, commonly with bevel edges, connected by a pivot, and working on both sides of the material to be cut, -- used for cutting cloth and other substances.
n. A similar instrument the blades of which are extensions of a curved spring, -- used for shearing sheep or skins.
n. A shearing machine; a blade, or a set of blades, working against a resisting edge.
n. Anything in the form of shears.
n. A pair of wings.
n. An apparatus for raising heavy weights, and especially for stepping and unstepping the lower masts of ships. It consists of two or more spars or pieces of timber, fastened together near the top, steadied by a guy or guys, and furnished with the necessary tackle.
n. The bedpiece of a machine tool, upon which a table or slide rest is secured; as, the shears of a lathe or planer. See Illust. under Lathe.

Crossword clues for shears

- Clip fleece
- Clip wool
- Cut (fleece)
- Cut wool from
- Cut wool from sheep
- Hears edited clip
- Large scissor
- Share out crop
- Use clippers
- Clippers
- Clips sheep
- Cutting instrument
- Large scissors
- Removes wool from top of sheep, detects sound