Thou sheer, immaculate, and silver fountain. Shak.

It is not a sheer advantage to have several strings to one's bow. M. Arnold.

A sheer precipice of a thousand feet. J. D. Hooker.

It was at least
Nine roods of sheer ascent. Wordsworth.

To sheer off, to turn or move aside to a distance; to move away. -- To sheer up, to approach obliquely.

Give the canoe a sheer and get nearer to the shore. Cooper.

Sheer batten (Shipbuilding), a long strip of wood to guide the carpenters in following the sheer plan. -- Sheer boom, a boom slanting across a stream to direct floating logs to one side. -- Sheer hulk. See Shear hulk, under Hulk. -- Sheer plan, or Sheer draught (Shipbuilding), a projection of the lines of a vessel on a vertical longitudinal plane passing through the middle line of the vessel. -- Sheer pole (Naut.), an iron rod lashed to the shrouds just above the dead-eyes and parallel to the ratlines. -- Sheer strake (Shipbuilding), the strake under the gunwale on the top side. Totten. -- To break sheer (Naut.), to deviate from sheer, and risk fouling the anchor.