n. The top sheaf of a stack of grain: (fig.) the crowning or finishing part of a thing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A leguminous herb (Onobrychis Caput-galli), having small spiny-crested pods. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Mach.) A beam or bar across the head or end of a rod, etc., or a block attached to it and carrying a knuckle pin; as the solid crosspiece running between parallel slides, which receives motion from the piston of a steam engine and imparts it to the connecting rod, which is hinged to the crosshead. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a heading of a subsection printed within the body of the text.
Syn. -- crosshead. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. To dishearten. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Disheartened p. pr. & vb. n. Disheartening. ] [ Pref. dis- + hearten. ] To discourage; to deprive of courage and hope; to depress the spirits of; to deject. [ 1913 Webster ]

Regiments . . . utterly disorganized and disheartened. Macaulay.

Syn. -- To dispirit; discourage; depress; deject; deter; terrify. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. made less hopeful or enthusiastic; as, their lack of interest disheartened the instructor. [ Narrower terms: pessimistic (vs. optimistic) ]
Syn. -- demoralized, discouraged. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. Causing loss of hope or enthusiasm.
Syn. -- demoralizing, demoralising, dispiriting. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. Discouragement; dejection; depression of spirits. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To become unsheathed. [ Obs. ] Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ D. okshoofd; akin to Sw. oxhufvud, Dan. oxehoved, G. oxhoft; apparently meaning orig., ox head, but it is not known why this name was given. Cf. Ox, Head. ] 1. An English measure of capacity, containing 63 wine gallons, or about 521/2 imperial gallons; a half pipe. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The London hogshead of beer was 54 beer gallons, the London hogshead of ale was 48 ale gallons. Elsewhere in England the ale and beer hogsheads held 51 gallons. These measures are no longer in use, except for cider. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A large cask or barrel, of indefinite contents; esp. one containing from 100 to 140 gallons. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To insert as in a sheath; to sheathe. Hughes. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. (Zool.), A small black-and-white oceanic bird (Puffinus puffinus, or Puffinus anglorum), common in the Eastern North Atlantic. Called also Manx petrel, Manx puffin. It is avariety of shearwater. It was formerly abundant in the Isle of Man. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. To hear incorrectly. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Sheathed by mistake; wrongly sheathed; sheathed in a wrong place. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ So called from Theodor Schwann, a German anatomist of the 19th century. ] (Anat.) The neurilemma. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From AS. scādan, sceádan, to separate, divide. See Shed, v. t. ] A tithing, or division, in the Isle of Man, in which there is a coroner, or chief constable. The island is divided into six sheadings. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Mech.) A sheave. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Sheaves [ OE. sheef, shef, schef, AS. sceáf; akin to D. schoof, OHG. scoub, G. schaub, Icel. skauf a fox's brush, and E. shove. See Shove. ] 1. A quantity of the stalks and ears of wheat, rye, or other grain, bound together; a bundle of grain or straw. [ 1913 Webster ]

The reaper fills his greedy hands,
And binds the golden sheaves in brittle bands. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any collection of things bound together; a bundle; specifically, a bundle of arrows sufficient to fill a quiver, or the allowance of each archer, -- usually twenty-four. [ 1913 Webster ]

The sheaf of arrows shook and rattled in the case. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To gather and bind into a sheaf; to make into sheaves; as, to sheaf wheat. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To collect and bind cut grain, or the like; to make sheaves. [ 1913 Webster ]

They that reap must sheaf and bind. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or consisting of, a sheaf or sheaves; resembling a sheaf. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Sheeling. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To put under a sheal or shelter. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ See Shell. ] To take the husks or pods off from; to shell; to empty of its contents, as a husk or a pod. [ Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot. ] Jamieson. [ 1913 Webster ]

That's a shealed peascod. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A shell or pod. [ Obs. or Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The outer husk, pod, or shell, as of oats, pease, etc.; sheal; shell. [ Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Sheeling. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. Sheared r Shore p. p. Sheared or Shorn p. pr. & vb. n. Shearing. ] [ OE. sheren, scheren, to shear, cut, shave, AS. sceran, scieran, scyran; akin to D. & G. scheren, Icel. skera, Dan. ski&unr_;re, Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;. Cf. Jeer, Score, Shard, Share, Sheer to turn aside. ] 1. To cut, clip, or sever anything from with shears or a like instrument; as, to shear sheep; to shear cloth. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ It is especially applied to the cutting of wool from sheep or their skins, and the nap from cloth. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To separate or sever with shears or a similar instrument; to cut off; to clip (something) from a surface; as, to shear a fleece. [ 1913 Webster ]

Before the golden tresses . . . were shorn away. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To reap, as grain. [ Scot. ] Jamieson. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Fig.: To deprive of property; to fleece. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Mech.) To produce a change of shape in by a shear. See Shear, n., 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. sceara. See Shear, v. t. ] 1. A pair of shears; -- now always used in the plural, but formerly also in the singular. See Shears. [ 1913 Webster ]

On his head came razor none, nor shear. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Short of the wool, and naked from the shear. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A shearing; -- used in designating the age of sheep. [ 1913 Webster ]

After the second shearing, he is a two-shear ram; . . . at the expiration of another year, he is a three-shear ram; the name always taking its date from the time of shearing. Youatt. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Engin.) An action, resulting from applied forces, which tends to cause two contiguous parts of a body to slide relatively to each other in a direction parallel to their plane of contact; -- also called shearing stress, and tangential stress. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Mech.) A strain, or change of shape, of an elastic body, consisting of an extension in one direction, an equal compression in a perpendicular direction, with an unchanged magnitude in the third direction. [ 1913 Webster ]

Shear blade, one of the blades of shears or a shearing machine. --
Shear hulk. See under Hulk. --
Shear steel, a steel suitable for shears, scythes, and other cutting instruments, prepared from fagots of blistered steel by repeated heating, rolling, and tilting, to increase its malleability and fineness of texture. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To deviate. See Sheer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Engin.) To become more or less completely divided, as a body under the action of forces, by the sliding of two contiguous parts relatively to each other in a direction parallel to their plane of contact. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The black skimmer. See Skimmer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Shard. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who shears. [ 1913 Webster ]

Like a lamb dumb before his shearer. Acts viii. 32. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A reaper. [ Scot. ] Jamieson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act or operation of clipping with shears or a shearing machine, as the wool from sheep, or the nap from cloth. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The product of the act or operation of clipping with shears or a shearing machine; as, the whole shearing of a flock; the shearings from cloth. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Same as Shearling. Youatt. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The act or operation of reaping. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The act or operation of dividing with shears; as, the shearing of metal plates. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. The process of preparing shear steel; tilting. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Mining) The process of making a vertical side cutting in working into a face of coal. [ 1913 Webster ]

Shearing machine. (a) A machine with blades, or rotary disks, for dividing plates or bars of metal. (b) A machine for shearing cloth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A sheep but once sheared. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Shearmen One whose occupation is to shear cloth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. scearn. Cf. Scarn. ] Dung; excrement. [ Obs. ] [ Written also shern. ] Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ Formerly used also in the singular. See Shear, n., 1. ] 1. A cutting instrument. Specifically: (a) An instrument consisting of two blades, commonly with bevel edges, connected by a pivot, and working on both sides of the material to be cut, -- used for cutting cloth and other substances. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fate urged the shears, and cut the sylph in twain. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) A similar instrument the blades of which are extensions of a curved spring, -- used for shearing sheep or skins. (c) A shearing machine; a blade, or a set of blades, working against a resisting edge. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Anything in the form of shears. Specifically: (a) A pair of wings. [ Obs. ] Spenser. (b) An apparatus for raising heavy weights, and especially for stepping and unstepping the lower masts of ships. It consists of two or more spars or pieces of timber, fastened together near the top, steadied by a guy or guys, and furnished with the necessary tackle. [ Written also sheers. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mach.) The bedpiece of a machine tool, upon which a table or slide rest is secured; as, the shears of a lathe or planer. See Illust. under Lathe. [ 1913 Webster ]

Rotary shears. See under Rotary. [ 1913 Webster ]

. See under Shear. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Zool.) (a) The common tern. (b) Any one of several species of humming birds of the genus Thaumastura having a long forked tail. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Shear + water; cf. G. wassersherer; -- so called from its running lightly along the surface of the water. ] (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of long-winged oceanic birds of the genus Puffinus and related genera. They are allied to the petrels, but are larger. The Manx shearwater (Puffinus Anglorum), the dusky shearwater (Puffinus obscurus), and the greater shearwater (Puffinus major), are well-known species of the North Atlantic. See Hagdon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. dial. G. scheid, schaid, schaiden. ] (Zool.) A European siluroid fish (Silurus glanis) allied to the cat-fishes. It is the largest fresh-water fish of Europe, sometimes becoming six feet or more in length. See Siluroid. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. schethe, AS. sc&aemacr_;ð, sceáð, scēð; akin to OS. skēðia, D. scheede, G. scheide, OHG. sceida, Sw. skida, Dan. skede, Icel. skeiðir, pl., and to E. shed, v.t., originally meaning, to separate, to part. See Shed. ] 1. A case for the reception of a sword, hunting knife, or other long and slender instrument; a scabbard. [ 1913 Webster ]

The dead knight's sword out of his sheath he drew. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any sheathlike covering, organ, or part. Specifically: (a) (Bot.) The base of a leaf when sheathing or investing a stem or branch, as in grasses. (b) (Zool.) One of the elytra of an insect. [ 1913 Webster ]

Medullary sheath. (Anat.) See under Medullary. --
Primitive sheath. (Anat.) See Neurilemma. --
Sheath knife, a knife with a fixed blade, carried in a sheath. --
Sheath of Schwann. (Anat.) See Schwann's sheath. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) Either one of two species of birds composing the genus Chionis, and family Chionidae, native of the islands of the Antarctic seas. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ They are related to the gulls and the plovers, but more nearly to the latter. The base of the bill is covered with a saddle-shaped horny sheath, and the toes are only slightly webbed. The plumage of both species is white. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Sheathed p. pr. & vb. n. Sheating. ] [ Written also sheath. ] 1. To put into a sheath, case, or scabbard; to inclose or cover with, or as with, a sheath or case. [ 1913 Webster ]

The leopard . . . keeps the claws of his fore feet turned up from the ground, and sheathed in the skin of his toes. Grew. [ 1913 Webster ]

'T is in my breast she sheathes her dagger now. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To fit or furnish, as with a sheath. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To case or cover with something which protects, as thin boards, sheets of metal, and the like; as, to sheathe a ship with copper. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To obtund or blunt, as acrimonious substances, or sharp particles. [ R. ] Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

To sheathe the sword, to make peace. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Povided with, or inclosed in, sheath. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Invested by a sheath, or cylindrical membranaceous tube, which is the base of the leaf, as the stalk or culm in grasses; vaginate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who sheathes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) Same as Sheatfish. [ 1913 Webster ]

p. pr. & a. from Sheathe. Inclosing with a sheath; as, the sheathing leaves of grasses; the sheathing stipules of many polygonaceous plants. [ 1913 Webster ]