sheared
part of speech
verb past form of shear (shear, shears, sheared, shearing; also past participle shorn)
meaning for a pupil
1) Sheared means had the wool cut off: the sheep were sheared. tree →
2) Sheared means cut with shears or a sharp tool. tree →
3) Sheared off means broke off because of a strong sideways force. tree →
sense in the lessons
In farming life (Australia, NZ, UK): sheep are sheared once a year for their wool. In science and building: a bolt sheared off under too much force. Phrases: sheared sheep, sheared off.
examples
- The farmer sheared fifty sheep in one day. tree →
- The sheared sheep looked thin and cold. tree →
- The bolt sheared off in the storm. tree →
- The hedge was sheared into a neat shape. tree →
- Wool from sheared sheep is spun into yarn. tree →
- The branch sheared off the tree. tree →
- At shearing time, wishing to take his fleece and to avoid expense, she sheared him herself, but used the shears so unskillfully that with the fleece she sheared the flesh. tree →
note
Past tense: sheared; past participle sheared or shorn ("shorn sheep"). Homophone trap: sheer (very steep; complete; thin) sounds like shear. In maths: if a shearer does 50 sheep a day, 200 sheep take 4 days.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «sheared» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.