The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Sheer \Sheer\, n.
   1. (Naut.)
      (a) The longitudinal upward curvature of the deck,
          gunwale, and lines of a vessel, as when viewed from
          the side.
      (b) The position of a vessel riding at single anchor and
          swinging clear of it.
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   2. A turn or change in a course.
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            Give the canoe a sheer and get nearer to the shore.
                                                  --Cooper.
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   3. pl. Shears See Shear.
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   Sheer batten (Shipbuilding), a long strip of wood to guide
      the carpenters in following the sheer plan.

   Sheer boom, a boom slanting across a stream to direct
      floating logs to one side.

   Sheer hulk. See Shear hulk, under Hulk.

   Sheer plan, or Sheer draught (Shipbuilding), a projection
      of the lines of a vessel on a vertical longitudinal plane
      passing through the middle line of the vessel.

   Sheer pole (Naut.), an iron rod lashed to the shrouds just
      above the dead-eyes and parallel to the ratlines.

   Sheer strake (Shipbuilding), the strake under the gunwale
      on the top side. --Totten.

   To break sheer (Naut.), to deviate from sheer, and risk
      fouling the anchor.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Sheer \Sheer\, adv.
   Clean; quite; at once. [Obs.] --Milton.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Sheer \Sheer\, v. t. [See Shear.]
   To shear. [Obs.] --Dryden.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Sheer \Sheer\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Sheered; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Sheering.] [D. sheren to shear, cut, withdraw, warp. See
   Shear.]
   To decline or deviate from the line of the proper course; to
   turn aside; to swerve; as, a ship sheers from her course; a
   horse sheers at a bicycle.
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   To sheer off, to turn or move aside to a distance; to move
      away.

   To sheer up, to approach obliquely.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Sheer \Sheer\, a. [OE. shere, skere, pure, bright, Icel. sk?rr;
   akin to sk[imac]rr, AS. sc[imac]r, OS. sk[imac]ri, MHG.
   sch[imac]r, G. schier, Dan. sk?r, Sw. sk[aum]r, Goth. skeirs
   clear, and E. shine. [root]157. See Shine, v. i.]
   1. Bright; clear; pure; unmixed. "Sheer ale." --Shak.
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            Thou sheer, immaculate, and silver fountain. --Shak.
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   2. Very thin or transparent; -- applied to fabrics; as, sheer
      muslin.
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   3. Being only what it seems to be; obvious; simple; mere;
      downright; as, sheer folly; sheer nonsense. "A sheer
      impossibility." --De Quincey.
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            It is not a sheer advantage to have several strings
            to one's bow.                         --M. Arnold.
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   4. Stright up and down; vertical; prpendicular.
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            A sheer precipice of a thousand feet. --J. D.
                                                  Hooker.
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            It was at least
            Nine roods of sheer ascent.           --Wordsworth.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

sheer
    adv 1: straight up or down without a break [syn: sheer,
           perpendicularly]
    2: directly; "he fell sheer into the water"
    adj 1: complete and without restriction or qualification;
           sometimes used informally as intensifiers; "absolute
           freedom"; "an absolute dimwit"; "a downright lie"; "out-
           and-out mayhem"; "an out-and-out lie"; "a rank outsider";
           "many right-down vices"; "got the job through sheer
           persistence"; "sheer stupidity" [syn: absolute,
           downright, out-and-out(a), rank(a), right-down,
           sheer(a)]
    2: not mixed with extraneous elements; "plain water"; "sheer
       wine"; "not an unmixed blessing" [syn: plain, sheer,
       unmingled, unmixed]
    3: very steep; having a prominent and almost vertical front; "a
       bluff headland"; "where the bold chalk cliffs of England
       rise"; "a sheer descent of rock" [syn: bluff, bold,
       sheer]
    4: so thin as to transmit light; "a hat with a diaphanous veil";
       "filmy wings of a moth"; "gauzy clouds of dandelion down";
       "gossamer cobwebs"; "sheer silk stockings"; "transparent
       chiffon"; "vaporous silks" [syn: diaphanous, filmy,
       gauzy, gauze-like, gossamer, see-through, sheer,
       transparent, vaporous, vapourous, cobwebby]
    v 1: turn sharply; change direction abruptly; "The car cut to
         the left at the intersection"; "The motorbike veered to the
         right" [syn: swerve, sheer, curve, trend, veer,
         slue, slew, cut]
    2: cause to sheer; "She sheered her car around the obstacle"