Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - sheer

 I. verb  Etymology: perhaps alteration of 1shear  Date: 1539  intransitive verb to deviate from a course ; swerve  transitive verb to cause to ~  II. noun  Date: 1670  1. a turn, deviation, or change in a course (as of a ship)  2. the position of a ship riding to a single anchor and heading toward it  III. adjective  Etymology: Middle English schere freed from guilt, probably alteration of skere, from Old Norse sk?rr pure; akin to Old English scinan to shine  Date: circa 1568  1. obsolete bright, shining  2. of very thin or transparent texture ; diaphanous  3.  a. unqualified, utter ~ folly ~ ignorance  b. being free from an adulterant ; pure, unmixed  c. viewed or acting in dissociation from all else in terms of ~ numbers  4. marked by great and continuous steepness  Synonyms: see steep  • ~ly adverb  • ~ness noun  IV. adverb  Date: 1599  1. in a complete manner ; altogether  2. straight up or down without a break ; perpendicularly  V. noun  Date: circa 1920 a ~ fabric; also an article of such a fabric  VI. noun  Etymology: perhaps alteration of 2shear  Date: 1691 the fore-and-aft curvature from bow to stern of a ship's deck as shown in side elevation