1) n. in mechanics. the movement or failure of materials. especially laminar material such as wood by sliding side by side. 2) n. a tool used to cut small diameter pJan.t material. including secateurs and snips. as well as long-bladed hand tools and power tools used to cut hedges. 3) v. to cut; often used to describe cutting foliage or stems to a single plane. as in a hedge.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
shear (verb)transitive verb
1.
a) to cut off the hair from
b) to cut or clip (as hair or wool) from someone or something , also to cut something from - shear a lawn
c) chiefly Scottish to reap with a sickle
d) to cut or trim with or a similar instrument - shears
2.
to cut with something sharp
3.
to deprive of something as if by cutting - lives shorn of any hope M. W. Browne
4.
a) to subject to a shear force
intransitive verb
b) to cause (as a rock mass) to move along the plane of contact
1.
to cut through something with or as if with a sharp instrument
2.
chiefly Scottish to reap crops with a sickle
3.
to become divided under the action of a shear
1.
a) (1) a cutting implement similar or identical to a pair of scissors but typically larger - usually used in plural
(2) one blade of a pair of - shears
b) any of various cutting tools or machines operating by the action of opposed cutting edges of metal - usually used in plural
c) (1) something resembling a shear or a pair of shears
(2) a hoisting apparatus consisting of two or sometimes more upright spars fastened together at their upper ends and having tackle for masting or dismasting ships or lifting heavy loads (as guns) - usually used in plural but singular or plural in construction
2.
chiefly British the action or process or an instance of - shearing used in combination to indicate the approximate age of sheep in terms of shearings undergone
3.
a) internal force tangential to the section on which it acts - called also shearing force
b) an action or stress resulting from applied forces that causes or tends to cause two contiguous parts of a body to slide relatively to each other in a direction parallel to their plane of contact