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Bright; clear; pure; unmixed. "Sheer ale." Shak. Thou sheer, immaculate, and silver fountain. Shak.

At once; absolutely. [Obs.]

The shearwater.

The course of plank laid horizontally over the timberheads of a vessel's frame.

A concretion in the joints of the bamboo, which consists largely or chiefly of pure silica. It is highly valued in the East Indies as a medicine for the cure of bilious vomitings, bloody flux, piles, and various other diseases.

The widest part of a vessel below the plank-sheer. (c) pl.

The planking outside of a vessel, above the sheer strake. Smyth.

se upward curvature of a vessel's floor. -- Dead rising, an elliptical line drawn on the sheer plan to determine the sweep of the floorheads throughout the ship's length. -- Dead-Sea apple. See under Apple. -- Dead set. See under Set. -- Dead shot. (a) An unerring marksman. (b) A shot certain to be made. -- Dead s…

wood (as a cask, barrel, etc.) in distinction from being bottled; as, ale on draught. -- Sheer draught. See under Sheer.

The place in a deep-waisted vessel where the sheer is raised and the rail is cut off, and usually terminated with a scroll, or driftpiece.

An upright or curved piece of timber connecting the plank sheer with the gunwale; also, a scroll terminating a rail.

l as pure From other guilt as that, Heaven did not hold One more immaculate. Denham. Thou sheer, immaculate and silver fountain. Shak. Immaculate conception (R. C. Ch.), the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was conceived without original sin. -- Im*mac"u*late*ly, adv. -- Im*mac"u*late*ness, n.

Unqualified; absolute; entire; sheer. [Obs.] "It's a man untruth." Sir W. Scott.

To shorten the radius of (a curve); to make (a curve) sharper; as, to quicken the sheer, that is, to make its curve more pronounced.

To deviate. See Sheer.

he top, steadied by a guy or guys, and furnished with the necessary tackle. [Written also sheers.]

An upward bend in a piece of timber; the sheer of a vessel.

Mere; sheer; gross; entire; downright. He pronounces the citation stark nonsense. Collier. Rhetoric is very good or stark naught; there's no medium in rhetoric. Selden.

An inside range of ceiling planks, corresponding to the sheer strake on the outside and bolted to it.

A boat intended for use in heavy surf. It is built with a pronounced sheer, and with a view to resist the shock of waves and of contact with the beach.