sheer
adverb/ʃɪə(r)/
/ʃɪr/
- straight up or down
- The cliffs rise sheer from the beach.
- The ground dropped sheer away at our feet.
Word Originadverb Middle English (in the sense ‘exempt, cleared’): probably an alteration of dialect shire ‘pure, clear’, from the Germanic base of the verb shine. In the mid 16th cent. the word was used to describe clear, pure water.
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sheer