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Veer vs Sheer - What's the difference?

veer | sheer |

As verbs the difference between veer and sheer

is that veer is (obsolete|nautical) to let out (a sail-line), to allow (a sheet) to run out or veer can be to change direction or course suddenly; to swerve while sheer is (chiefly|nautical) to swerve from a course.

As nouns the difference between veer and sheer

is that veer is a turn or swerve; an instance of veering while sheer is (nautical) the curve of the main deck or gunwale from bow to stern.

As a adjective sheer is

(textiles) very thin or transparent.

As a adverb sheer is

(archaic) clean; quite; at once.

veer

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) .

Verb

(en verb)
  • (obsolete, nautical) To let out (a sail-line), to allow (a sheet) to run out.
  • *1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , volume 12:
  • *:As when a skilfull Marriner doth reed / A storme approching, that doth perill threat, / He will not bide the daunger of such dread, / But strikes his sayles, and vereth his mainsheat, / And lends vnto it leaue the emptie ayre to beat.

    • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) virer.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A turn or swerve; an instance of veering.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To change direction or course suddenly; to swerve.
    • The car slid on the ice and veered out of control.
  • * (rfdate), Dryden:
    • And as he leads, the following navy veers .
  • * (rfdate), Burke:
    • An ordinary community which is hostile or friendly as passion or as interest may veer about.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=November 7, author=Matt Bai, title=Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds, work=New York Times citation
    • , passage=At this time in 2008, even as the global economy veered toward collapse, optimism about Washington ran surprisingly high.}}
  • (of the wind) To shift in a clockwise direction (if in the Northern Hemisphere, or in a counterclockwise direction if in the Southern Hemisphere).Bowditch 2002
  • (intransitive, nautical, of the wind) To shift aft.
  • (nautical) To change direction into the wind; to ship.
  • To turn.
    • Antonyms
    * back * haul forward

    References

    Anagrams

    * ----

    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

    *