Pure; clear; separate from anything foreign; unmingled; as sheer ale. But this application is unusual. We say sheer argument, sheer wit, sheer falsehook.

Clear; thin; as sheer muslin.

Clean; quite; at once. Obs.

To sheer.

In seamen’s language, to decline or deviate from the line of the proper course, as a ship when not steered with steadiness.

To slip or move aside. To sheer off, to turn or move aside to a distance. To sheer up, to turn and approach to a place or ship.

The longitudinal curve or bend of a ship’s deck or sides.

The position in which a ship is sometimes kept at single anchor, to keep her clear of it. To break sheer, to deviate from that position and fisk fouling the anchor.