What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Sheet vs Sheer - What's the difference?

sheet | sheer |

In nautical|lang=en terms the difference between sheet and sheer

is that sheet is (nautical) to trim a sail using a sheet while sheer is (nautical) an abrupt swerve from the course of a ship.

As nouns the difference between sheet and sheer

is that sheet is a thin bed cloth used as a covering for a mattress or as a layer over the sleeper while sheer is (nautical) the curve of the main deck or gunwale from bow to stern.

As verbs the difference between sheet and sheer

is that sheet is to cover or wrap with cloth, or paper, or other similar material while sheer is (chiefly|nautical) to swerve from a course.

As an adjective sheer is

(textiles) very thin or transparent.

As an adverb sheer is

(archaic) clean; quite; at once.

sheet

English

(wikipedia sheet)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A thin bed cloth used as a covering for a mattress or as a layer over the sleeper.
  • * Use the sheets in the hall closet to make the bed.
  • * Bible, Acts x. 10, 11
  • He fell into a trance, and saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners.
  • * Shakespeare
  • If I do die before thee, prithee, shroud me / In one of those same sheets .
  • A piece of paper, usually rectangular, that has been prepared for writing, artwork, drafting, wrapping, manufacture of packaging (boxes, envelopes, etc.), and for other uses. The word does not include scraps and irregular small pieces destined to be recycled, used for stuffing or cushioning or paper mache, etc.
  • * A sheet of paper measuring eight and one-half inches wide by eleven inches high is a popular item in commerce.
  • * Paper is designated “20 pound” if a stack (ream) of 500 sheets 22 inches by 17 inches weighs 20 pounds.
  • A flat metal pan, often without raised edge, used for baking.
  • * Place the rolls on the cookie sheet , edges touching, and bake for 10-11 minutes.
  • A thin, flat layer of solid material.
  • * The glazer cut several panes from a large sheet of glass.
  • * A sheet''' of that new silicon stuff is as good as a '''sheet of tinfoil to keep food from sticking in the baking pan.
  • A broad, flat expanse of a material on a surface.
  • * Mud froze on the road in a solid sheet''', then more rain froze into a '''sheet of ice on top of the mud!
  • (nautical) A line (rope) used to adjust the trim of a sail.
  • * To be "three sheets to the wind" is to say that a four-cornered sail is tethered only by one sheet and thus the sail is useless.
  • (nautical, nonstandard) A sail.
  • (Dryden)
  • (curling) The area of ice on which the game of curling is played.
  • (nonstandard) A layer of veneer.
  • (figuratively) Precipitation of such quantity and force as to resemble a thin, virtually solid wall.
  • (geology) An extensive bed of an eruptive rock intruded between, or overlying, other strata.
  • (nautical) The space in the forward or after part of a boat where there are no rowers.
  • fore sheets'''; stern '''sheets

    Synonyms

    * (piece of paper) page * (line) rope * (expanse of material) layer, coat, coating, blanket

    Derived terms

    * balance sheet * bedsheet * bleed-sheet * broadsheet * cap sheet * clean sheet * contour sheet * dope sheet * fitted sheet * scandal sheet * scratch sheet * sheet music * stylesheet * tearsheet * three sheets to the wind * tip sheet * top sheet * under the sheets * white as a sheet * worksheet * yellow sheet

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cover or wrap with cloth, or paper, or other similar material.
  • Remember to sheet the floor before you start painting.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Yea, like a stag, when snow the pasture sheets , / The barks of trees thou browsed'st.
  • Of rain, or other precipitation, to pour heavily.
  • We couldn't go out because the rain was sheeting down all day long.
  • (nautical) To trim a sail using a sheet.
  • References

    *

    Anagrams

    * * * 1000 English basic words

    sheer

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m), (m), (m), (m), from (etyl) .

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • (textiles) Very thin or transparent.
  • * '>citation
  • (obsolete) Pure; unmixed.
  • * Shakespeare
  • sheer ale
  • * Shakespeare
  • Thou sheer , immaculate, and silver fountain.
  • Being only what it seems to be; mere.
  • * 2012 , July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track
  • Cycling's complex etiquette contains an unwritten rule that riders in contention for a race win should not be penalised for sheer misfortune.
  • Very steep; almost vertical or perpendicular.
  • Used to emphasize the amount or degree of something.
  • *
  • , title=The Mirror and the Lamp , chapter=2 citation , passage=That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired. And if the arts of humbleness failed him, he overcame you by sheer impudence.}}
  • * 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/nyregion/new-jersey-continues-to-cope-with-hurricane-sandy.html?hp]," New York Times (retrieved 31 October 2012):
  • Perhaps as startling as the sheer toll was the devastation to some of the state’s well-known locales. Boardwalks along the beach in Seaside Heights, Belmar and other towns on the Jersey Shore were blown away. Amusement parks, arcades and restaurants all but vanished. Bridges to barrier islands buckled, preventing residents from even inspecting the damage to their property.
    Synonyms
    * (very thin or transparent) diaphanous, see-through, thin * downright, mere, pure, undiluted, unmitigated * (straight up and down) perpendicular, steep, vertical

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (archaic) clean; quite; at once.
  • (Milton)

    Etymology 2

    ; see also (m).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (nautical) The curve of the main deck or gunwale from bow to stern.
  • (nautical) An abrupt swerve from the course of a ship.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (chiefly, nautical) To swerve from a course.
  • A horse sheers at a bicycle.
  • * 1899 ,
  • I sheered her well inshore—the water being deepest near the bank, as the sounding–pole informed me.
  • (obsolete) To shear.
  • (Dryden)

    References

    (Webster 1913)

    Anagrams

    *