1
as in shaves
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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in slits
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shears
Verb
-
The decision to move elections to November shaves several months off the existing terms of the mayor, vice mayor and commissioners.—
Michelle Marchante,
Miami Herald,
22 Apr. 2026 -
For beard trims and shaves, go to Pisterzi in Soho.—
The Editors,
Curbed,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Additional features include CleanWeb, which blocks ads, trackers, and malware at the network level, and a Kill Switch that cuts internet access if the VPN connection drops unexpectedly.—
StackCommerce Team,
PC Magazine,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Meta cuts 8,000 workers Welp, Meta is once again eliminating jobs in light of its massive spending on artificial intelligence.—
Andrew Nusca,
Fortune,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The map slices through Kansas City, splitting the city’s voters across three Republican-leaning districts.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Toast 2–4 slices bread of choice (such as country-style sourdough or multigrain).—
Rebecca Firkser,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Joe Rodon clips a pass over the top of the Brentford defence for Calvert-Lewin to contest.—
Beren Cross,
New York Times,
25 Mar. 2026
-
The holder clips right to your pack or waders and keeps everything in a neat, easy-to-dispense stack.—
Francesca Krempa,
Outside,
23 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
Anderson’s feat is overshadowed by Shaquille O’Neal, who rips down the backboard in the first quarter, delaying the game 45 minutes.—
Assistant Sports Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Continue reading … TICKING CLOCK — CNN host Michael Smerconish rips Democrats for hiding behind War Powers deadline.—
,
FOXNews.com,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The third round of voting trims the field to four restaurants.—
Susan Stapleton,
Des Moines Register,
25 Mar. 2026
-
The Yale Repertory Theatre is using a 2019 adaptation by Frank Galati, which takes the standard Derek Prouse translation which has been around nearly as long as Ionesco original French script and trims it judiciously for maximum theatrical impact.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The proposal slashes funding to the agency’s science program by 46 percent—a cut similar to what had been proposed in the president’s budget request for the current fiscal year.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Through careful tuning of an extended Kalman filter and by taking advantage of bamboo’s natural vibration-damping properties, the system slashes control latency from 15–20 milliseconds down to just 8–10 milliseconds, enhancing responsiveness while keeping flight stable.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Grandmother takes a small pair of scissors from her bag and snips a swatch from the green cloth, then slips it into her pocket.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Mar. 2026
-
Using scissors, Boesch, who trained at the Rhode Island School of Design, typically snips cards into pieces and reassembles them into depictions of such subjects as Lady Liberty, Yankee Stadium, Andy Warhol, Derek Jeter, and Pizza Rat.—
Taran Dugal,
New Yorker,
5 Jan. 2026
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.
Cite this Entry
“Shears.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shears. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
