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# shearing

noun (shearing; uncountable); verb form (present participle of «shear»: shearing); adjective (shearing shed)

«shearing» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Shearing is cutting the wool off a sheep, usually once a year. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shearing/#m1)
2. «Shearing» is the -ing form of «shear»: cutting with big scissors (shears) or clippers. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shearing/#m2)
3. (science) Shearing is when forces push parts of something in opposite directions so it slides or breaks, as in a «shearing force». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shearing/#m3)

### In the lessons

In Australia and New Zealand shearing is a big part of farm life: shearers work in a «shearing shed» in spring and compete in shearing contests. In science, it explains why materials snap or why the ground slips in earthquakes. Phrases: «sheep shearing», «shearing shed», «shearing season», «shearing force».

### Examples

- The farmer is shearing the sheep before summer. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shearing/#x1)
- Shearing does not hurt the sheep, like a haircut. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shearing/#x2)
- We visited a shearing shed in New Zealand. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shearing/#x3)
- A fast shearer can finish a sheep in about a minute. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shearing/#x4)
- The strong wind was shearing branches off the trees. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shearing/#x5)
- Shearing season is the busiest time on the farm. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shearing/#x6)
- At last, after fruitlessly shearing off nine of the Chudo-Yudo's heads, and finding himself embedded in the ground up to his armpits, Ivan flings his cap at the hut. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shearing/#x7)

### Note

Verb forms: shear, shears, sheared, shearing; past participle sheared or shorn. Homophone trap: «shear» (cut) and «sheer» (very steep, or complete: «sheer luck») sound the same.

## In Jewish tradition

Means cutting wool from sheep, a time of feasting in the Bible. The shearing-house was where shepherds did this.

**Interpretation.** The shearing time with Nabal is read as a feast season when generosity was expected, which makes his refusal to David look worse.

### Examples

- And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. (Prophets 1SA.25.4, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/shearing/#x1)
- And as he was at the shearing-house of the shepherds in the way, (Prophets 2KI.10.12, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/shearing/#x2)
- And he said: 'Take them alive.' And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing-house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them. (Prophets 2KI.10.14, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/shearing/#x3)

### Note

Verb forms: shear, shears, sheared, shearing; past participle sheared or shorn. Homophone trap: «shear» (cut) and «sheer» (very steep, or complete: «sheer luck») sound the same.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «shearing» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shearing/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«shearing» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/shearing.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «shearing» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/shearing/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«shearing» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/shearing.html) on Mova free.