shear off

phrasal verb

sheared off; sheared off or shorn off; shearing off; shears off

1

: to become separated suddenly because of great force

The excess weight caused the bolt to shear off.

2

: to remove (something) with great force

The impact of the crash sheared off the airplane's wing.

Examples of shear off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

During a 2021 Titanic dive, Titan’s four securing bolts sheared off while being hoisted aboard the Horizon Arctic, causing the forward dome to detach and fall onto the Launch and Recovery System platform in a catastrophic mechanical failure that narrowly avoided injuring the crew. —Michael Dorgan, FOXNews.com, 5 Aug. 2025

In 2021, when the Titan was being hoisted onto the deck of a ship, these bolts all sheared off, and the huge dome crashed down onto the sub's ocean launch platform. —Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica, 5 Aug. 2025

Images taken after the explosion show the plant's tall tower sheared off, exposing twisted steel and torn siding. —Gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 July 2025

Much of the Fusion’s back half looked as if it’d been sheared off, the muffler, the spare tire, and the fuel door the clearest surviving indications of its past form. —Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 July 2025

Rhymes for shear off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff