shearing

Everyday

1. Shearing is cutting the wool off a sheep, usually once a year. tree →
2. «Shearing» is the -ing form of «shear»: cutting with big scissors (shears) or clippers. tree →
3. (science) Shearing is when forces push parts of something in opposite directions so it slides or breaks, as in a «shearing force». tree →

In the lessons

In Australia and New Zealand shearing is a big part of farm life: shearers work in a «shearing shed» in spring and compete in shearing contests. In science, it explains why materials snap or why the ground slips in earthquakes. Phrases: «sheep shearing», «shearing shed», «shearing season», «shearing force».

Examples

• The farmer is shearing the sheep before summer. tree →
• Shearing does not hurt the sheep, like a haircut. tree →
• We visited a shearing shed in New Zealand. tree →
• A fast shearer can finish a sheep in about a minute. tree →
• The strong wind was shearing branches off the trees. tree →
• Shearing season is the busiest time on the farm. tree →
• At last, after fruitlessly shearing off nine of the Chudo-Yudo's heads, and finding himself embedded in the ground up to his armpits, Ivan flings his cap at the hut. tree →

Note

Verb forms: shear, shears, sheared, shearing; past participle sheared or shorn. Homophone trap: «shear» (cut) and «sheer» (very steep, or complete: «sheer luck») sound the same.

In Jewish tradition

Means cutting wool from sheep, a time of feasting in the Bible. The shearing-house was where shepherds did this.

Interpretation. The shearing time with Nabal is read as a feast season when generosity was expected, which makes his refusal to David look worse.

Examples

• And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. (Prophets 1SA.25.4, JPS 1917) tree →
• And as he was at the shearing-house of the shepherds in the way, (Prophets 2KI.10.12, JPS 1917) tree →
• And he said: 'Take them alive.' And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing-house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them. (Prophets 2KI.10.14, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Verb forms: shear, shears, sheared, shearing; past participle sheared or shorn. Homophone trap: «shear» (cut) and «sheer» (very steep, or complete: «sheer luck») sound the same.