Lots of words in the English language have multiple spellings, and each spelling may even have multiple meanings.

The word "shear" is an engineering expression for how a force can be applied to an object, and how it can break.

You are undoubtedly familiar with the terms "tension", "compression" and "torsion" and can understand how something can break if you pull something apart, crush it or twist it's head off.

But what word would you use to describe how something would break if you held it in front of you with both hands (so that your thumb knuckles were touching) and pushed one half of it away from you with your left hand and pulled the other half toward you with your right hand?

In engineering lingo, that kind of stress is called a "shear stress", and excessive sheer stress will result in an object failing in shear.

Earthquakes are examples of the rock under your feet failing in shear because of the enormous shear stresses that can build up in the Earth's crust.

But, you can also buy your wife and girlfriend sheer lingerie, you can shear a sheep, you can sharpen a shear blade, you can faint from sheer exhaustion, and you can put Worstersheer sauce on your steak.