“Shears” or “Sheers”—Which to use?

“Shears” or “Sheers”

Overview

shears / sheers are similar-sounding terms with different meanings (referred to as homophones). To better understand the differences, see below for definitions, pronunciation guides, and example sentences using each term. 👇

Definitions

shears: (noun) large scissors with strong blades.

sheers: (verb) cause to sheer.

Pronunciation

shears: sh·IY·r·z

sheers: NA

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Examples in Context

Examples of “shears”

Pinking shears are a type of scissors…
He then shears off his hand that was…
…was under the name "Sally Shears" in the book Mona Lisa
…whose arms end in pruning shears, and makes him the center…
…1862 to David and Harriet Shears Hodgkins.
…to cut woven cloth, pinking shears leave a zigzag pattern instead…
The earliest patent for pinking shears was U.S. patent #489,406 which…
Jake Shears wrote original music and starred…
…Millions (also known as Sally Shears, Rose Kolodny, and others) is…
1893 Pinking shears

Examples of “sheers”

(Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license. Definitions drawn from WordNet.)

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