shearing

verb

present participle of shear
1
as in shaving
to make (something) shorter or smaller with the use of a cutting instrument it took almost a week to shear all the wool off the flock of sheep

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in slicing
to penetrate with a sharp edge (as a knife) the shark's razor-sharp teeth sheared the swimmer's flesh right down to the bone

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of shearing The fledgling storm was affected by shearing winds that forecasters expected to prevent it from building into the kind of hurricane that can sometimes quickly develop in the Gulf just offshore. — N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 24 July 2026 This easy-care hedge requires shearing only once a year to maintain its shape. — Mary Alice Russell, Southern Living, 13 July 2026 Harryson says to avoid shearing the entire plant into a tight mound, cutting into the crown, removing emerging spring shoots, and pruning too early. — Madeline Buiano, Martha Stewart, 16 June 2026 In that 1964 work, Ono sat still on a stage, a pair of scissors beside her, as audience members took turns shearing her clothing. — Julie L. Belcove, Architectural Digest, 12 June 2026 The plants bloom in late spring and early summer and can be encouraged to bloom again by shearing the plants back by two-thirds after the first flowers fade. — Lynn McAlpine, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Mar. 2026 Sophomore Joe Teter enjoyed the honor of shearing Dunckel’s head. — Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Nov. 2025 The video shows the Amazon drone shearing the wire line. — Annie Palmer, CNBC, 26 Nov. 2025 The film reunited him with Morrison, who played the head of a sheep-shearing family business in northeastern New Zealand in the 1950s. — Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shearing
  1. shaving
  2. slicing
  3. cutting
  4. slitting
  5. trimming
  6. ripping
  7. clipping
  8. slashing
Verb
  • With competition so fierce in the race to build and release the latest AI models however, the expediency of shaving off every possible drag on speed trumps all.
    — Emily Forlini, Fortune, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Kath is competitive only about things that matter, like logging steps or shaving her legs, and the game had no bearing on her reality.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of shaving
Verb
  • The first murder is a girl slicing into her slumbering mother’s neck with a hacksaw; then her brother pounds his father’s face in with a baseball bat.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Wash and dry them well before slicing in half and removing the pit.
    — Torie Cox, Southern Living, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of slicing
Verb
  • When cutting them back in the fall for the winter, leave a few branches for wildlife to use for protection, but be sure to remove all of the dead branches to reduce the risk of diseases.
    — Andrea Beck, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Broadcasters of all sizes, especially local station owners, have been battling cord-cutting and coping with ongoing audience and advertiser shifts away from linear viewing.
    — Dade Hayes, Deadline, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of cutting
Verb
  • The prosecutor said Tran tried to take his own life by slitting a wrist, cutting his neck and poking a blade into his stomach.
    — Sean Emery, Oc Register, 5 Mar. 2026
  • When Rochelle Luna, 18, arrived at the house hours later, Djerf bound, gagged and raped her before stabbing her and slitting her throat, court records said.
    — Elena Santa Cruz, AZCentral.com, 19 Sep. 2025
Definition of slitting
Verb
  • Haskell's team is also staying high in quality and coupons, trimming lower-coupon exposures in favor of those that are upward of 5% that the firm thinks are better poised to handle periods of market uncertainty.
    — Darla Mercado, CFP®, CNBC, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Cut the fennel bulbs into quarters, trimming just a bit of the core (leave enough to hold the layers together), then slice thin.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of trimming
Verb
  • In January 2022, Tropical Storm Ana tore through the Kapichira Dam, ripping roughly 129 megawatts of hydropower off the national grid in a single stroke.
    — Ken Silverstein, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2026
  • The Old Trails Fire sparked Saturday northwest of downtown Spokane, eventually jumping over the Spokane River and ripping through neighborhoods.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of ripping
Verb
  • Algorithmic video feeds have accelerated this transition, as more and more podcast companies see clipping for TikTok and the like as the primary discovery method for podcasts — and, in some cases, whole brands.
    — Max Tani, semafor.com, 9 Aug. 2026
  • His platform pays armies of short-form video clippers to flood feeds for brands, the model behind the clipping farms driving fintech marketing and crypto gambling's viral machine.
    — Boaz Sobrado, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of clipping
Verb
  • One of those attacks was a bear slashing a man’s chest outside his home in North Canaan.
    — Sean Krofssik, Hartford Courant, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Senate Republicans have expressed wariness in recent days about the prospect of slashing those standards, which advocates say help keep kids safe and healthy.
    — Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of slashing

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Cite this Entry

“Shearing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shearing. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of shearing for Spanish Speakers

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