Lisa Angelettie

Bestselling Amazon Author

  • START HERE
  • BOOKS
  • COURSES
  • RESOURCES
  • HIRE LISA
  • BLOG
You are here: Home / Article Writing Tips / Sheer or Shear: A Grammar Tip

Sheer or Shear: A Grammar Tip

March 12, 2010 By Lisa Angelettie 6 Comments

0 Flares Twitter 0 Facebook 0 Google+ 0 LinkedIn 0 Email -- 0 Flares ×

Sheer or Shear?

This quick grammar tip came up because I was writing something for someone, and writing very quickly, and used the wrong one! Ugh! You may know what each of these means, but in case you have a brain freeze or are writing rather quickly — I want you to be crystal clear about when to use sheer or shear in your writing. Actually the two have similar origins but mean completely two different things.

SHEER 1
adjective [ attrib. ] nothing other than; unmitigated (used for emphasis) : she giggled with sheer delight | marriage is sheer hard work.2 (esp. of a cliff or wall) perpendicular or nearly so : the sheer ice walls.3 (of a fabric) very thin; diaphanous : sheer white silk chiffon.

adverb
1 perpendicularly : the ridge fell sheer, in steep crags.2 archaic completely; right : she went sheer forward when the door was open.

noun
a very fine or diaphanous fabric or article.

DERIVATIVES
sheerly | adverb  sheerness |

noun
ORIGIN Middle English (in the sense [exempt, cleared] ): probably an alteration of dialect shire [pure, clear,] from the Germanic base of the verb shine . In the mid 16th cent. the word was used to describe clear, pure water, and also in sense 3.

SHEER 2
verb [ intrans. ](typically of a boat or ship) swerve or change course quickly : the boat sheered off to beach further up the coast.• figurative avoid or move away from an unpleasant topic : her mind sheered away from images she didn’t want to dwell on.

noun
a sudden deviation from a course, esp. by a boat.

ORIGIN early 17th cent.: perhaps from Middle Low German scheren ‘to shear.’

USAGE
The two verbs sheer and shear have a similar origin but do not have identical meanings. Sheer, the less common verb, means ‘swerve or change course quickly’: : the boat sheers off the bank. Shear, on the other hand, usually means ‘cut the wool off (a sheep)’ and can also mean ‘break off (usually as a result of structural strain)’: : the pins broke and the wing part sheared off .

SHEER 3
noun
the upward slope of a ship’s lines toward the bow and stern.

ORIGIN late 17th cent.: probably from the noun shear .

********************************************************************************************************

SHEAR

verb ( past part. shorn | sh ôrn|or sheared )1 [ trans. ] cut the wool off (a sheep or other animal).• cut off (something such as hair, wool, or grass), with scissors or shears : I’ll shear off all that fleece.• ( be shorn of) have something cut off : they were shorn of their hair | figurative the richest man in the U.S. was shorn of nearly $2 billion.2 break off or cause to break off, owing to a structural strain : [ intrans. ] the derailleur sheared and jammed in the rear wheel | [ trans. ] the left wing had been almost completely sheared off.

NOUN
a strain in the structure of a substance produced by pressure, when its layers are laterally shifted in relation to each other. See also wind shear .

DERIVATIVES
shearer   (noun)

ORIGIN
Old English sceran (originally in the sense [cut through with a weapon] ), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and Germanscheren, from a base meaning ‘divide, shear, shave.’

USAGE
The two verbs shear and sheer are sometimes confused: see usage at sheer 2 .

Related Websites

  • The Freelance Zone » Blog Archive » Grammar Tip: It’s Vs. Its
  • Saving daylight … « Grammar Police a.k.a. GrammarCops
  • The Correct Word – Learned or Learnt « The Write Corner

0 Flares Twitter 0 Facebook 0 Google+ 0 LinkedIn 0 Email -- 0 Flares ×
The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Google+ profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Pinterest profileMy YouTube channel

Lisa Angelettie

Join My Tribe at This Page
I make a living writing, ePublishing, and marketing books and teaching others how to do the same. I have one mission: To turn you into the best writer that you can be while enjoying every minute of it!
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Google+ profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Pinterest profileMy YouTube channel

Latest posts by Lisa Angelettie (see all)

  • Back Matter 101: How To Add Killer Call To Actions To Your Books - August 3, 2015
  • Shelfari Is No Longer An Option In Author Central - July 28, 2015
  • What Are The Most Well-Read Cities In America? - June 2, 2015
Tweet
PinIt

Filed Under: Article Writing Tips, New Writers Tagged With: Article Writing Tips, Grammar Tips

Comments

  1. hair scissors says

    April 13, 2016 at 11:49 am

    Nice post. I learn ssomething new and chsllenging onn blogs I
    stumbleupon every day. It’s always interesting to read content from other
    authors and practice a little something from other web sites.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. french bulldog puppies for sale near me in CA ON MA CO OH PA SC MS TN FL UT NH VA AL TX says:
    September 17, 2020 at 7:58 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More on that Topic: lisaangelettieblog.com/sheer-or-shear-a-grammar-tip/ […]

    Reply
  2. airport transfer cheltenham to heathrow says:
    September 18, 2020 at 12:02 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More on that Topic: lisaangelettieblog.com/sheer-or-shear-a-grammar-tip/ […]

    Reply
  3. sex says:
    September 18, 2020 at 8:11 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More Information here to that Topic: lisaangelettieblog.com/sheer-or-shear-a-grammar-tip/ […]

    Reply
  4. bitcoin evolution review says:
    September 29, 2020 at 7:05 am

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More Information here on that Topic: lisaangelettieblog.com/sheer-or-shear-a-grammar-tip/ […]

    Reply
  5. https://app-bitcoinloophole.com says:
    October 3, 2020 at 10:57 pm

    … [Trackback]

    […] Read More Information here on that Topic: lisaangelettieblog.com/sheer-or-shear-a-grammar-tip/ […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search Me!

READ ON KINDLE

MY FAV’ WRITING TOOL

Scrivener

PERSONAL CONSULTING

FREE WORDPRESS PLUGIN

IMPORTANT LINKS

Subscribe To This Blog On Kindle
Wordpress Guest Post Plugin
Testimonials
Newsletter
Terms of Use
Copyright
Privacy
Disclaimer
Contact Me

From The Blog

  • Back Matter 101: How To Add Killer Call To Actions To Your Books
  • Shelfari Is No Longer An Option In Author Central
  • What Are The Most Well-Read Cities In America?
  • Google Play Is Closed To New Publishers
  • Kindle Blog Publishing Is Amazon Bestseller!

CONNECT WITH ME

Twitter
Facebook
Google+
LinkedIn

Copyright © Lisa Angelettie · Powered By Hostgator And A Whole Lotta Love:)