shearing

Etymology

From Middle English scherynge; equivalent to shear + -ing.

adj

1. Tending to cut or tear.

verb

1. present participle and gerund of shear

noun

1. The act or operation of clipping with shears or a shearing machine, as the wool from sheep, or the nap from cloth.
2. The material cut off in this way.
   the whole shearing of a flock; the shearings from cloth
3. Deformation by forces acting in opposite directions.
4. Alternative form of shearling.
   When male sheep have been castrated , they are termed — from the period of weaning to that of shearing — wether , or wedder or shear hogs or tegs, then shearings , shearlings , dinmonts , & c . 1864, William Youatt, The Complete Grazier and Farmer's and Cattle-Breeder's
5. (Scotland) The act or operation of reaping.
6. The act or operation of dividing with shears.
   the shearing of metal plates
7. The process of preparing shear steel; tilting.
8. (mining) The process of making a vertical side cutting in working into a face of coal.