Sheer

Source : Wright, Joseph English Dialect Dictionary web : https://eddonline4-proj.uibk.ac.at/edd/main.html

SHEER, v.1 and sb.1 In gen. dial. and colloq. use in Sc. and Eng. Also written shear Lan.; shere w.Yks.2; and in form share e.Yks. [ʃiə(r.] 1. v. with off: to depart, move off; to swerve, turn aside. n.Cy. (J.W.) n.Yks. He sheer'd off t'rooad (I.W.). e.Yks. Ee shaird off ti toddher seid o street (Miss A.). w.Yks.2 Lan. We sheared off to th' station, Dottie Rambles (1898) 141. War.3 Now then, sheer off. Lon. Baumann Londinismen (1887). Cor. I did not like his looks a bit, and sheered off, Hunt Pop. Rom. w.Eng. (1865) 357, ed. 1896. 2. sb. A swerve, lurch. Gall. Rob Fisher took a sheer as we came down the green brae, and landed himsell in a rossen o' breers, Mactaggart Encycl. (1824) 264, ed. 1876.

SHEER, v.2 Yks. [ʃiər.] To work brick-clay with a spade. n.Yks. (I.W.) Hence Sheering-tool, sb. a wooden spade shod with iron used in working brick-clay. I.W.

SHEER, sb.2 Obs. Hrt. see below. Let the shepherd take a sheer full of bloom, Ellis Shepherd's Guide (1749) 330.

SHEER, sb.3 Suf. The small iron wedge with which the bolt of a window-shutter is fastened. Forby Gl. (1830) (s.v. Shive).

SHEER, adj. and adv. Sc. n.Cy. Glo. Bdf. e.An. Ken. Sus. Hmp. Wil. Som. Also written schere Sc. (Jam.); shear Nrf.; shere Hmp. [ʃiə(r.] 1. adj. Bright, shiny; clear, transparent. Cf. shire, adj. e.An.1 Bright red, shining with inflammation. Nrf. Going along the ice,.. it was very ‘sheer,’ and I could see the brown bottom a foot beneath me, Fishing Gazette (Mar. 14, 1891) 166, col. 2; The water was ‘sheer,’ Emerson Lagoons (ed. 1896) 6. Ken.1 It is applied to the bright, glassy appearance of the skin which forms over a wound; or to the appearance of the stars. ‘When they look so very bright and sheer there will be rain.’ Sus.1 Smooth and shiny, as flesh which is swollen. Hmp.1 2. Of the wind or atmosphere: keen, sharp, cutting. Glo.1 It's quite a sheer air to-day. Wil. The wind is very sheer (W.C.P.); Wil.1 Uncommon sheer air s'marnin, yunnit? Som. The wind blows quite cold and sheer this evening (W.F.R.). 3. Brittle. e.An.1 4. Bare; also used advb. Ken.2 A thing lies sheer. 5. Obs. Odd, singular; waggish. Sc. A sheer dog (Jam.). n.Cy. He is a sheer fellow (K.). 6. adv. Obs. Completely, entirely; ‘clean,’ straight. Bdf. Sheer here, sheer home, Batchelor Anal. Eng. Lang. (1809) 142. [He is gone sheer away (K.).][1. Cp. ON. skǣrr, bright, clear (Vigfusson).]

SHEER, see Shear, sb.1, v., Shire, sb.1