complete and without restriction or qualification; sometimes used informally as intensifiers; " absolute freedom"; " an absolute dimwit"; " a downright lie"; " out- and- out mayhem"; " an out- and- out lie"; " a rank outsider"; " many right- down vices"; " got the job through sheer persistence"; " sheer stupidity"

very steep; having a prominent and almost vertical front; " a bluff headland"; " where the bold chalk cliffs of England rise"; " a sheer descent of rock"

so thin as to transmit light; " a hat with a diaphanous veil"; " filmy wings of a moth"; " gauzy clouds of dandelion down"; " gossamer cobwebs"; " sheer silk stockings"; " transparent chiffon"; " vaporous silks"

straight up or down without a break

not mixed with extraneous elements; " plain water"; " sheer wine"; " not an unmixed blessing"

directly; " he fell sheer into the water"

cause to sheer; " She sheered her car around the obstacle"

To shear.

Bright; clear; pure; unmixed.

Being only what it seems to be; obvious; simple; mere; downright; as, sheer folly; sheer nonsense.

Stright up and down; vertical; prpendicular.

Clean; quite; at once.

To decline or deviate from the line of the proper course; to turn aside; to swerve; as, a ship sheers from her course; a horse sheers at a bicycle.

The longitudinal upward curvature of the deck, gunwale, and lines of a vessel, as when viewed from the side.

The position of a vessel riding at single anchor and swinging clear of it.

A turn or change in a course.

Shears See Shear.

Very thin or transparent; - applied to fabrics; as, sheer muslin.

Downright; utter; absolute; as, sheer folly; very thin or transparent: as, a sheer fabric; straight up and down; vertical; steep; as, a sheer precipice.

Perpendicularly; straight.

To turn aside from the proper course.

Pure: unmingled: simple: without a break, perpendicular.

Clear: quite: at once.

To deviate from the line of the proper course, as a ship: to turn aside.

The deviation from the straight line, or the longitudinal curve or bend of a ship's deck or sides.

Clear; quite; vertically.

Curve of a ship's deck or sides.

Pure; mere; perpendicular.

To turn from a course.

To swerve; turn aside.

Unmitigated; absolute; down right; perpendicular; steep.

A swerving or curving.

Pure; clear; unmingled; simple; thin; precipitous.

The longitudinal curve or bend of a ship's deck or sides; the position an which a ship is sometimes kept at single anchor, to keep her clear of it.

To slip or move aside. Sheer off, to move to a distance.

Pure; separate from anything else; mere; unmingled.

The longitudinal curve or line which a ship's deck or sides presents to the eye.

Among seamen, to deviate from the line of the proper course, as a ship when not well steered; to turn aside.

At last he gave it up through sheer weariness. – Folk-Tales of Bengal by Lal Behari Day

I am afraid that is what will have to be done, from sheer lack of ground to work upon. – A Bachelor's Dream by Mrs. Hungerford

" You gasped for sheer longing when I talked of Italy. – The Song of Songs by Hermann Sudermann

There never was so much to be done with wealth- so much sheer living to be got out of it, as there is to- day. – The Mating of Lydia by Mrs. Humphry Ward

To hold it by sheer merit so that this- this wouldn't- couldn't happen. – Star-Dust A Story of an American Girl by Fannie Hurst

The angry crowd gave way in sheer astonishment. – The Complete Historical Romances of Georg Ebers by Georg Ebers

Suddenly I missed her by my side, and turning round saw a sight that made my heart beat with its sheer beauty. – The Morals of Marcus Ordeyne by William J. Locke

From sheer force of habit he went into the card- room. – Beyond by John Galsworthy

" It was sheer nonsense, of course, but-" " Oh, I don't know," said James. – Love and Lucy by Maurice Henry Hewlett

She used to go out of her way sometimes to show her independence, and would do most silly things out of sheer bravado. – Loyal to the School by Angela Brazil

We was obliged to sheer off. – Commodore Junk by George Manville Fenn

" It is good to hear you speak so," she said, with a smile that was of sheer relief. – A Sea Queen's Sailing by Charles Whistler

" We can't explain to Miss Birks now, but we can tell her some day that we went out of sheer necessity," argued Dulcie. – The School by the Sea by Angela Brazil

Tiddy had by this time managed to get the dinner on the table, and the other two men, out of sheer pity, were helping him. – The Wishing-Ring Man by Margaret Widdemer

But this was sheer reason again, and has no place in a fantastic romance. – The Quest of the Golden Girl by Richard le Gallienne

I believe this to be a sheer mistake. – Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays by Bertrand Russell

And it was the kind to delight in not only for its wealth, so to speak, for all it held and hinted, but also for itself alone; it was a word of sheer beauty. – Missy by Dana Gatlin

Hence he is often wrong, and more often incomplete, from sheer lack of information. – A History of Nineteenth Century Literature (1780-1895) by George Saintsbury