Definitions of sheer [ʃɪər]

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Definition of 'sheer'

Random House Webster's College Dictionary

1. (adj.) sheer
transparently thin; diaphanous, as some fabrics:
sheer stockings.

2.  sheer
unmixed with anything else; unadulterated:
sheer rock; sheer luck.

3.  sheer
unqualified; utter:
sheer nonsense.

4.  sheer
extending down or up very steeply; almost completely vertical:
a sheer descent.

5.  sheer
Obs. bright; shining.

6. (adv.) sheer
completely; quite:
drove sheer off the road.

7.  sheer
perpendicularly; vertically; down or up very steeply.

8. (n.) sheer
a thin, diaphanous fabric or garment.

9. (v.i.) sheer
to deviate from a course, as a ship; swerve.

10. (v.t.) sheer
to cause to sheer.

11. (n.) sheer
a deviation or divergence, as of a ship from its course.

12.  sheer
the fore-and-aft upward curve of the hull of a vessel at the main deck or bulwarks.

13.  sheer
the position in which a ship at anchor is placed to keep it clear of the anchor.

Etymology: (1620–30; perh. identical with shear)

Definition of 'sheer'

Princeton's WordNet

1. (adj) absolute, downright, out-and-out(a), rank(a), right-down, sheer(a)
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"

2. (adj) plain, sheer, unmingled, unmixed
not mixed with extraneous elements
"plain water"; "sheer wine"; "not an unmixed blessing"

3. (adj) bluff, bold, sheer
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"

4. (verb) diaphanous, filmy, gauzy, gauze-like, gossamer, see-through, sheer, transparent, vaporous, vapourous, cobwebby
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"

5. (verb) swerve, sheer, curve, trend, veer, slue, slew, cut
turn sharply; change direction abruptly
"The car cut to the left at the intersection"; "The motorbike veered to the right"

6. (adverb) sheer
cause to sheer
"She sheered her car around the obstacle"

7. (adverb) sheer, perpendicularly
straight up or down without a break

8. (adverb) sheer
directly
"he fell sheer into the water"

Definition of 'sheer'

Kernerman English Learner’s Dictionary

1. (adjective) sheer
emphasizes how complete or total sth is
an act of sheer genius; the sheer beauty of the scene

2. sheer
very steep
a sheer drop to the beach below

3. sheer
(of cloth) easy to see through
a sheer silk

Definition of 'sheer'

Webster Dictionary

1. (adverb) sheer
clean; quite; at once

2. (noun) sheer
the longitudinal upward curvature of the deck, gunwale, and lines of a vessel, as when viewed from the side

3. (noun) sheer
the position of a vessel riding at single anchor and swinging clear of it

4. (noun) sheer
a turn or change in a course

5. (noun) sheer
shears See Shear

6. (verb) sheer
bright; clear; pure; unmixed

7. (verb) sheer
very thin or transparent; -- applied to fabrics; as, sheer muslin

8. (verb) sheer
being only what it seems to be; obvious; simple; mere; downright; as, sheer folly; sheer nonsense

9. (verb) sheer
stright up and down; vertical; prpendicular

10. (verb) sheer
to shear

11. (verb) sheer
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

Translation of 'sheer'

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary

Sense: absolute Her singing was a sheer delight; It all happened by sheer chance.
Afrikaans: suiwer	Arabic: مُطْلَق ، مَحْض، صِرْف	Bulgarian: абсолютен
Brazilian: puro	Czech: čirý	German: rein
Danish: ren og skær	Greek: απόλυτος, σκέτος	Spanish: puro, absoluto
Estonian: selge, puhas	Farsi: مستقيما	Finnish: pelkkä
French: pur	Hebrew: גָמוּר	Hindi: पूर्णतया
Croatian: potpun, puki	Hungarian: puszta erő, abszolút	Indonesian: mutlak
Icelandic: alger	Italian: (puro e semplice)	Japanese: 全くの
Korean: 전적인	Lithuanian: grynas, visiškas	Latvian: gluži nejauši
Malay: benar-benar	Dutch: louter	Norwegian: rein (og skjær)
Polish: czysty	Persian: مستقيما	Pashto: مازى، بالكل، فقط، مطلق: س
Portuguese: puro	Romanian: pur	Russian: абсолютный, полнейший
Slovak: číry, úplný	Slovenian: skrajen	Serbian: čist
Swedish: ren	Thai: เต็มที่	Turkish: sırf, tam
Taiwanese: 絕對的	Ukrainian: абсолютний, цілковитий	Urdu: عین، بالکل
Vietnamese: hoàn toàn	Chinese: 绝对的
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