Which should you use, shear or sheer? The verb shear may mean to cut the wool off a sheep. The adjective sheer may mean complete or steep.
| Incorrect: |
When I sheer the lambs, I go all the way down to the skin.
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| Correct: |
When I shear the lambs, I go all the way down to the skin.
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| Incorrect: |
This is shear nonsense.
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| Correct: |
This is sheer nonsense.
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| Incorrect: |
The wall has a shear drop of 6000 ft.
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| Correct: |
The wall has a sheer drop of 6000 ft.
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