\Sheer\, a. [OE. shere, skere, pure, bright, Icel. sk?rr;
akin to sk[=i]rr, AS. sc[=i]r, OS. sk[=i]ri, MHG. sch[=i]r,
G. schier, Dan. sk?r, Sw. sk["a]r, Goth. skeirs clear, and E.
shine. [root]157. See {Shine}, v. i.]
1. Bright; clear; pure; unmixed. ``Sheer ale.'' --Shak.
         Thou sheer, immaculate, and silver fountain. --Shak.
2. Very thin or transparent; -- applied to fabrics; as, sheer
   muslin.
3. Being only what it seems to be; obvious; simple; mere;
   downright; as, sheer folly; sheer nonsense. ``A sheer
   impossibility.'' --De Quincey.
         It is not a sheer advantage to have several strings
         to one's bow.                         --M. Arnold.
4. Stright up and down; vertical; prpendicular.
         A sheer precipice of a thousand feet. --J. D.
                                               Hooker.
         It was at least Nine roods of sheer ascent.
                                               --Wordsworth.

\Sheer\, adv.
Clean; quite; at once. [Obs.] --Milton.

\Sheer\, v. t. [See {Shear}.]
To shear. [Obs.] --Dryden.

\Sheer\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Sheered}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Sheering}.] [D. sheren to shear, cut, withdraw, warp. See
{Shear}.]
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.
{To sheer off}, to turn or move aside to a distance; to move
   away.
{To sheer up}, to approach obliquely.

\Sheer\, n.
1. (Naut.)
   (a) The longitudinal upward curvature of the deck,
       gunwale, and lines of a vessel, as when viewed from
       the side.
   (b) The position of a vessel riding at single anchor and
       swinging clear of it.
2. A turn or change in a course.
         Give the canoe a sheer and get nearer to the shore.
                                               --Cooper.
3. pl. Shears See {Shear}.
{Sheer batten} (Shipbuilding), a long strip of wood to guide
   the carpenters in following the sheer plan.
{Sheer boom}, a boom slanting across a stream to direct
   floating logs to one side.
{Sheer hulk}. See {Shear hulk}, under {Hulk}.
{Sheer plan}, or {Sheer draught} (Shipbuilding), a projection
   of the lines of a vessel on a vertical longitudinal plane
   passing through the middle line of the vessel.
{Sheer pole} (Naut.), an iron rod lashed to the shrouds just
   above the dead-eyes and parallel to the ratlines.
{Sheer strake} (Shipbuilding), the strake under the gunwale
   on the top side. --Totten.
{To break sheer} (Naut.), to deviate from sheer, and risk
   fouling the anchor.