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Glite Dictionary
shearer

shearer

5 4.6
A person or machine that uses large scissors to cut wool from sheep and other thick materials
  • noun
  • /ˈʃɪrər/
translation icon : esquilador
  • - You want to be a shearer?
  • sheep shearers

Examples

  • Smithy knows the flock lies waiting for the touch of the shearers.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The shearer's team is moving on up north and it is getting very hot.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • In the shearers' shed, the men are asleep.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The shearers were hopeful, but dubious at the same time.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • "The sheep were shorn with sharpened shears that showed the shearer's sharpening..."

    The Makeover (2013)

  • "The sheep were shorn with sharpened shears that showed the shearer's sharpening skills."

    The Makeover (2013)

  • The experienced shearer finished cutting the wool quickly and efficiently.

  • During the annual festival, a skilled shearer demonstrated how to shear sheep using traditional methods.

  • Every spring, the shearer visits the farm to ensure the sheep are properly shorn.

Surface Forms

shearer singular
shearers plural

Morphology

shearer = shear (transparent) = shear + er

Straightforward agentive formation from the verb 'shear' using the productive '-er' suffix.

Etymology

Shearer comes from the verb shear meaning 'to cut' and the ending -er meaning 'one who does something'. Think of shears, large scissors that cut cloth or wool, so a shearer is someone or a machine that cuts wool from sheep or cuts other materials.