What does sheer mean?
Definitions for sheer
ʃɪərsheer
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word sheer.
Princeton's WordNet
absolute, downright, out-and-out(a), rank(a), right-down, sheer(a)adjective
complete and without restriction or qualification; sometimes used informally as intensifiers
"absolute freedom"; "an absolute dimwit"; "a downright lie"; "out-and-out mayhem"; "an out-and-out lie"; "a rank outsider"; "many right-down vices"; "got the job through sheer persistence"; "sheer stupidity"
plain, sheer, unmingled, unmixedadjective
not mixed with extraneous elements
"plain water"; "sheer wine"; "not an unmixed blessing"
bluff, bold, sheeradjective
very steep; having a prominent and almost vertical front
"a bluff headland"; "where the bold chalk cliffs of England rise"; "a sheer descent of rock"
diaphanous, filmy, gauzy, gauze-like, gossamer, see-through, sheer, transparent, vaporous, vapourous, cobwebbyverb
so thin as to transmit light
"a hat with a diaphanous veil"; "filmy wings of a moth"; "gauzy clouds of dandelion down"; "gossamer cobwebs"; "sheer silk stockings"; "transparent chiffon"; "vaporous silks"
swerve, sheer, curve, trend, veer, slue, slew, cutverb
turn sharply; change direction abruptly
"The car cut to the left at the intersection"; "The motorbike veered to the right"
sheeradverb
cause to sheer
"She sheered her car around the obstacle"
sheer, perpendicularlyadverb
straight up or down without a break
sheeradverb
directly
"he fell sheer into the water"
Wiktionary
sheernoun
The curve of the main deck or gunwale from bow to stern.
sheernoun
An abrupt swerve from the course of a ship.
sheerverb
To swerve from a course.
sheerverb
To shear.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Sheeradjective
Pure; clear; unmingled.
Etymology: scyr , Saxon.
If she say, I am not fourteen pence on the score for sheer ale, score me up for the lying’st rogue in Christendom William Shakespeare.
Sheer argument is not the talent of the man; little wrested sentences are the bladders which bear him up, and he sinks downright, when he once pretends to swim without them. Francis Atterbury.
Sheeradverb
Clean; quick; at once.
Etymology: from the adjective.
Thrown by angry Jove
Sheer o’er the crystal battlements; from morn
To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,
A summer’s day; and with the setting sun,
Drop’d from the zenith, like a falling star,
On Lemnos. John Milton.The sword of Satan, with steep force to smite
Descending, and in half cut sheer. John Milton.Due entrance he disdain’d, and in contempt
At one slight bound high overleap’d all bound
Of hill or highest wall, and sheer within
Lights on his feet. John Milton.To Sheerverb
I keep my birth-day; send my Phillis home
At sheering-time. Dryden.
ChatGPT
sheer
Sheer is an adjective that can generally refer to something extremely or utmost in degree, amount or intensity. It can also describe something complete and pure. In context, sheer is often used to describe materials that are thin and transparent like sheer fabric. Additionally, it may refer to a steep or abrupt surface of something like a cliff.
Webster Dictionary
Sheerverb
bright; clear; pure; unmixed
Sheerverb
very thin or transparent; -- applied to fabrics; as, sheer muslin
Sheerverb
being only what it seems to be; obvious; simple; mere; downright; as, sheer folly; sheer nonsense
Sheerverb
stright up and down; vertical; prpendicular
Sheeradverb
clean; quite; at once
Sheerverb
to shear
Sheerverb
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
Sheernoun
the longitudinal upward curvature of the deck, gunwale, and lines of a vessel, as when viewed from the side
Sheernoun
the position of a vessel riding at single anchor and swinging clear of it
Sheernoun
a turn or change in a course
Sheernoun
shears See Shear
Etymology: [See Shear.]
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Sheer
shēr, adj. pure: unmingled: simple: without a break, perpendicular.—adv. clear: quite: at once. [Ice. skærr, bright; Ice. skírr, A.S. scír.]
Sheer
shēr, v.i. to deviate from the line of the proper course, as a ship: to turn aside.—n. the deviation from the straight line, or the longitudinal curve or bend of a ship's deck or sides.—ns. Sheer′-hulk, an old dismasted ship with a pair of sheers mounted on it for masting ships; Sheer′-leg, one of the spars.—n.pl. Sheers, an apparatus for hoisting heavy weights, having usually two legs or spars spread apart at their lower ends, and bearing at their tops, where they are joined, hoisting-tackle. [Perh. Dut. scheren, to cut, withdraw.]
Dictionary of Nautical Terms
sheer
The longitudinal curve of a ship's decks or sides; the hanging of the vessel's side in a fore-and-aft direction. Also, a fishing-spear in use on the south coast. (See SHEAR.) Also, the position in which a ship is sometimes kept when at single anchor, in order to keep her clear of it [evidently from the Erse sheebh, to drift].
Suggested Resources
Sheer
Shear vs. Sheer -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Shear and Sheer.
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
SHEER
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Sheer is ranked #31656 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Sheer surname appeared 730 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Sheer.
93.5% or 683 total occurrences were White.
2.7% or 20 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
1.6% or 12 total occurrences were of two or more races.
1.2% or 9 total occurrences were Asian.
0.8% or 6 total occurrences were Black.
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'sheer' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4341
Adjectives Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'sheer' in Adjectives Frequency: #587
Anagrams for sheer »
sereh
shree
herse
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of sheer in Chaldean Numerology is: 2
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of sheer in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1
Examples of sheer in a Sentence
While Jackie may have never publicly broke down, you can almost rest assured that was the shoulder that he cried on, just the sheer strength that she demonstrated sitting in that stadium listening to all these folks say these nasty things about her husband, and he was nothing like what they wanted him to be portrayed as, and yet she found the will to be able to sit and endure all of that as well.
The sheer volume in the puts leads me to believe that traders are hedging for earnings or general market volatility.
It took less than five minutes into Fox's 'Grease: Live' for director Thomas Kail to throw down the gauntlet, kick it out the door and slam the door shut on just about any future live musicals when it comes to sheer technical dexterity.
The sheer volume is unbelievable.
Stay up and listen to lightening. If there is no lightening around, stay up and listen to nothing. Just listen to the sheer joy of your thoughts trans-versing from one corner of your brain to the next.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for sheer
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- مح� Arabic
- vertikal, rein, durchsichtig, senkrecht, bloß, hauchdünn, steil, schier, pur, transparentGerman
- fino, transparente, puro, acantilado, muy delgado, vertical, escarpadoSpanish
- محضPersian
- ohut, pelkkä, silkka, seitinohut, harsomainen, pystysuora, suora, puhdas, äkkijyrkkäFinnish
- reinurFaroese
- pur, transparent, verticalFrench
- croghManx
- निराHindi
- merő, áttetsző, teljes, könnyű, puszta, vékonyHungarian
- puroItalian
- טָהוֹרHebrew
- 透明, 純粋Japanese
- abruptumLatin
- moteMāori
- vertikal, ublandet, gjennomskinnelig, ren, rett, brattNorwegian
- klaar, flinterdun, steil, klinkklaar, recht, puurDutch
- rein, ublandaNorwegian Nynorsk
- przezroczysty, urwisty, czystyPolish
- puro, direto, fino, puraPortuguese
- sadeaRomanian
- настоя́щий, отвесно, отве́сный, прозра́чный, вертика́льный, чи́стый, су́щийRussian
- прозиран, proziranSerbo-Croatian
- priesvitný, číry, čistýSlovak
- சுத்தTamil
- ince, safTurkish
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"sheer." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/sheer>.
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