1. (a.) Utter; complete; steep; thin or transparent; -- applied to fabrics\.

2. (v. i.) Very thin or transparent; -- applied to fabrics; as, sheer muslin.

3. (v. i.) Being only what it seems to be; obvious; simple; mere; downright; as, sheer folly; sheer nonsense.

4. (v. i.) Straight up and down; vertical; perpendicular.

5. (adv.) Clean; quite; at once.

6. (v. t.) To shear.

7. (v. i.) 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.

8. (n.) The longitudinal upward curvature of the deck, gunwale, and lines of a vessel, as when viewed from the side.

9. (n.) The position of a vessel riding at single anchor and swinging clear of it.

10. (n.) A turn or change in a course.

11. (n.) Shears See Shear.

aberrancy aberration about ship abrupt absolute absolutely airy all-embracing all-encompassing all-out all-pervading angle angle off aplomb arduous arrant at right angles avert back and fill bare bear away bear off bear to starboard beat beat about bend bent bias blasted blessed bluff bold born box off branch off branching off break breakneck bring about bring round broad-based cant cant round cast cast about change course change the bearing change the heading chiffon circuitousness clarified clean clear clear as crystal come about complete comprehensive confounded congenital consummate corner crook crystal crystal-clear crystalline curve declination deep-dyed deflect depart from departure detour deviance deviancy deviate deviation deviousness diaphane diaphanous digress digression dip discursion distilled divagate divagation divaricate divarication diverge divergence diversion divert dogleg double double a point downright drift drifting dyed-in-the-wool egregious errantry excursion excursus exhaustive exorbitation fetch about filmy flimsy gauzy go about gossamer gossamery gross gybe hairpin headlong heave round heel indirection infernal intensive irretrievably irrevocably jibe jibe all standing light-pervious limpid lucid lurch mere miss stays naked neat nonopaque oblique obliquity omnibus omnipresent orthodiagonal orthogonal out-and-out outright peekaboo pellucid pererration perfect perfectly perpendicular perpendicularly pervasive pivot plain plumb plunging ply precipitate precipitous pure purified put about put back quite radical rambling rank rapid rectified regular revealing right right-angle right-angled right-angular round a point see-through sharp sheerly shift shifting shifting course shifting path sideling simple skew slant slew slue square stark steep stickle straight straight-up straight-up-and-down straying sway sweep sweeping swerve swerving swing round swing the stern swinging tack thin thorough thoroughgoing through-and-through throw about total translucent transparent transpicuous trend turn turn aside turn back turning twist ubiquitous unadorned unadulterated unalloyed unblended unclouded uncombined uncompounded unconditional uncorrupted undiluted unenhanced unfortified universal unleavened unmingled unmitigated unmixed unqualified unrelievedly unreserved unrestricted unsophisticated untinged up and down up-and-down utter variation vary veer veritable vertical volte-face wandering warp