shear off

phrasal verb

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

: to become separated suddenly because of great force

The excess weight caused the bolt to shear off.

: 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 Winds can shear off or disrupt cloud tops in hurricanes, breaking up the powerful inner core that helps a hurricane reach the higher echelon of wind speeds. —

Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY, 29 June 2024 While filming a scene where Joan finds Christina playing at her vanity and begins savagely shearing off her hair, Dunaway accidentally jabbed Hobel in the arm with scissors, apparently because of difficult-to-maneuver wigs. —

Elaina Patton, IndieWire, 29 June 2024 Videos of the bridge shearing off the top of trucks are popular on social media. —

Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 27 June 2024 Listen to this article A 29-year-old woman’s feet were sheared off by a No. 3 train after her boyfriend shoved her onto the subway tracks at a lower Manhattan station Saturday, police sources said. —

Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 9 Mar. 2024 See all Example Sentences for shear off

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shear off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.