ETYM Old Eng. shere, skere, pure, bright.
1. Bright; clear; pure; unmixed.
2. Very thin or transparent; -- applied to fabrics.
3. Being thoroughly what it seems to be; mere; downright.
4. Straight up and down; vertical; perpendicular.

(Homonym: shear).
1. Directly.
2. Straight up or down without a break; SYN. perpendicularly.

1. Fore-and-aft curvature of a ship from bow to stern
2. A turn, deviation, or change in a course (as of a ship)
3. The position of a ship riding to a single anchor and heading toward it
4. A sheer fabric; also; an article of such a fabric

(Homonym: shear).
To cause to sheer.