shear off

phrasal verb

sheared off; sheared off or shorn off; shearing off; shears off

: to become separated suddenly because of great force

The excess weight caused the bolt to shear off.

: to remove (something) with great force

The impact of the crash sheared off the airplane's wing.

Examples of shear off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web That building still stood, but the walls on the second floor were sheared off. —

Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2024 The biggest and heaviest piece of debris was the central part of a propeller with much of its blades sheared off. —

Ramy Inocencio, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2024 No one before had dared to ski the Couloir Spencer, which sheared off at a 55-degree angle at some points on the French peak Aiguille de Blaitière. —

Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 24 July 2024 Winds can shear off or disrupt cloud tops in hurricanes, breaking up the powerful inner core that helps a hurricane reach the higher echelon of wind speeds. —

Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY, 29 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for shear off

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shear off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.