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sheer
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
sheer
I.adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a sheer/vertical cliff (=straight up and down rather than sloping)
▪ Sheer cliffs defend the island.
perfect/pure/sheer happiness (=happiness that is as good as it can be)
▪ The birth of my child was a moment of sheer happiness.
pure/absolute/sheer etc hell
▪ They described the war zone as sheer hell.
pure/absolute/sheer etc hell
▪ ‘How was your exam?’ ‘Sheer hell!’
pure/sheer luxury (=used when you want to emphasize that something gives great comfort and pleasure )
▪ The blouse was satin, and felt like pure luxury.
pure/sheer spite (=spite and nothing else)
pure/sheer/complete joy (=a lot of joy, not mixed with other feelings)
▪ It was a moment of pure joy.
sheer boredom
▪ the sheer boredom of being in jail
sheer determination (=nothing except great determination)
▪ He had survived by sheer determination.
sheer excitement (=a very strong feeling of excitement)
▪ Nothing can beat driving a racing car for sheer excitement.
Sheer exhaustion
▪ Sheer exhaustion forced him to give up.
sheer folly
▪ It would be sheer folly to reduce spending on health education.
sheer lunacy
▪ It would be sheer lunacy to turn down a job offer like that.
sheer madness (=completely crazy)
▪ Cutting down the forest is sheer madness .
sheer misery (=great unhappiness, with no other emotion)
▪ His face was a picture of sheer misery.
sheer novelty (=used when emphaszing how new and different something seems)
▪ Few pieces of music can match the sheer novelty of Sibelius's Sixth Symphony.
sheer originality (=when something is very original)
▪ the sheer originality of his writing style
sheer pigheadedness
▪ It was just sheer pigheadedness on his part.
sheer...drop (=vertical)
▪ There was an almost sheerdrop to the valley below.
sheer/pure coincidence (=complete chance)
▪ It was pure coincidence that we were on the same plane.
sheer/pure delight (=very great)
▪ She opened the present and laughed with sheer delight.
sheer/pure luck (=chance, and not skill or effort)
▪ She managed to catch hold of the rope by sheer luck.
sheer/pure malice
▪ She did it out of sheer malice.
sheer/pure pleasure
▪ He studied ancient languages for the sheer pleasure of learning.
sheer/pure terror (=complete and total terror)
▪ The horse galloped off in sheer terror down the path.
simple/plain/basic/sheer common sense (=very obviously sensible)
▪ Locking your doors at night is simple common sense.
the sheer scale of sth (=used for emphasis)
▪ He was shocked by the sheer scale of the suffering he witnessed.
the sheer size of sth (=used to emphasize that something is large)
▪ The sheer size of some dinosaurs is amazing.
total/sheer panic
▪ A wave of total panic swept across her.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
just
▪ Everything was out in the open - political resistance, management failings and just sheer inertia.
▪ He says it gives him pleasure, just sheer pleasure.
▪ It's just sheer nervousness, I assure you.
▪ He clasped Joanne in his arms, not for love or lust, just sheer joy at being alive.
■ NOUN
beauty
▪ The sheer beauty of the handsome yard revived her.
▪ Now the function of the dogwood is to be found in its sheer beauty.
▪ Whether you are fascinated by the unusual, or enchanted by sheer beauty, there is something for everyone here.
▪ At that moment they reached the ruined abbey and she fell silent at its sheer beauty.
▪ She heard him gasp at the sheer beauty of her superb feminine body.
▪ But the sheer beauty and ingenuity of the animal adaptations were breathtaking and the gorgeousness of the plant life staggering.
boredom
▪ Often, the end of their beaks may be cut off to stop the hens pecking each other out of sheer boredom and neurosis.
▪ Misty rain or Sunday lunch, or sheer boredom had dispersed the spectators and Lady Street was deserted.
bulk
▪ In sheer bulk of biomass, organisms without brains or even without central nervous systems far outnumber those possessing these desirable features.
▪ Their sheer bulk in the heavy clothing made the people look like beasts.
▪ Nineteenth century tries to stifle doubts by crushing you with sheer bulk, he wrote.
▪ The sheer bulk and force of the attack knocked the guy down.
▪ The sheer bulk of the material makes it difficult for them to do otherwise.
▪ The sheer bulk of his sister's file and the fact that her husband's one was empty registered strongly on him.
chance
▪ It was sheer chance and not any skill at all.
▪ As always, we needed good information, and sometimes this came our way by sheer chance.
▪ I only discovered I was in it by sheer chance.
▪ It happens every season - by sheer chance and law of averages some of the ideas are bound to come up.
▪ This is sheer chance, but suggests a good average result from the use of the algorithm!
cliff
▪ The coastguard duties included patrolling paths at the top of high and sheer cliffs - not a job for the faint-hearted.
▪ The fourth side of the clearing was sheer cliff drop, attended by a barrier of split rails.
▪ Teetering on the sheer cliff, Tallis peered down at the river.
▪ But the top of Kino Peak is guarded by sheer cliffs on all sides.
▪ Behind the narrow sandy beach stands a sheer cliff of coral rock, seventy feet high.
▪ Walls of red brick rose up on his left like sheer cliffs.
▪ Rough hewn steps led up steeply, hugging an almost sheer cliff face.
coincidence
▪ By sheer coincidence Kappa Crucis lies at the edge of the dark nebula known as the Coal Sack.
▪ By sheer coincidence the three accounts mentioned had all placed significant orders just before the board meeting.
delight
▪ In the end, the poems must be read as expressions of sheer delight in friendship.
▪ It has been sheer delight for them.
▪ Utterly daft and unsophisticated, it elevated Allen to the very head of the children's table - and is sheer delight.
▪ A sheer delight A simple style and a light touch can be all you need to create a stunning window treatment.
▪ Imagine yourself in a beautiful garden, dancing across the lawns in sheer delight.
drop
▪ There was a sheer drop, half the height of a man, down to the water's surface.
▪ There is a wind-blown cornice of about one and a half metres overhanging a sheer drop of about eight metres.
▪ He'd had a short walk after the service and every path seemed to end in a cliff or a sheer drop.
▪ The road was overhung with rocks and the view from the driver's window was a sheer drop.
▪ They parked and walked to the cape where there was a terrifying sheer drop to the sea.
exhaustion
▪ In the end, sheer exhaustion and hunger made political questions remote for the majority.
▪ What had settled his son at last was sheer exhaustion, and Alan's absence.
▪ There was no fear of revolt in the countryside on the Volga, due to sheer exhaustion.
▪ Only sheer exhaustion would force Paul to stop.
folly
▪ Throwing them away is sheer folly.
▪ In part two: A slice of history.The birthday cake that was sheer folly.
▪ Their lack of ease with each other is tangible and to pretend otherwise is sheer folly.
▪ I happen to believe in miracles, but it would be sheer folly to depend on them.
force
▪ Yet, almost by sheer force of habit, much of the old order remains.
▪ What a display of grandeur and sheer force of will!
▪ He would pump away until he was exhausted, as though by sheer force he could inject her with fertile seed.
▪ For a few seconds the sheer force of the wind supported my weight before I stumbled into a lull between squalls.
▪ If there were any monsters with tentacles and teeth, they'd have been overwhelmed by sheer force of nome.
▪ Both of them seem to have decided to become novelists with teeth gritted, by sheer force of will.
▪ By sheer force of will she ignored the sounds of pattering and gnawing near the body in the corner.
frustration
▪ Corbett felt hemmed in by the sheer frustration of the task assigned him.
▪ But the die had been cast, in part through the power of imported ideas, in part through sheer frustration.
▪ Jessamy wanted to shout at him in sheer frustration.
hell
▪ The stairs seem like the north face of the Eiger, the temperature sheer hell.
▪ Or was he just trying to provoke her into an argument for the sheer hell of it?
joy
▪ But watching the talented wrist-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed was sheer joy.
▪ I felt as if I were on fire with energy and I laughed for the sheer joy of it.
▪ And you may shed a tear or two - for the sheer joy of it all.
▪ The sheer joy of having pockets and flies was something that lasted for weeks.
▪ The sheer joy of having me under his power, of being able to spend all and every day staring at me.
▪ In love meant all the colours, all the sounds, all the sights, sheer joy.
▪ He clasped Joanne in his arms, not for love or lust, just sheer joy at being alive.
▪ When they laugh it's with sheer joy.
luck
▪ By sheer luck I had given Reuters their biggest news scoop since the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865.
▪ He made it through sheer luck and by attaching himself to one guy after another and then stepping over them.
▪ So I guessed right; sheer luck.
▪ She flung out her hands and caught the edge of the stone by sheer luck.
lunacy
▪ Does he agree that such a policy - it is, of course, Labour policy - would be sheer lunacy?
▪ It seemed an act of sheer lunacy.
▪ And fans are in no doubt as to where bravery ends and sheer lunacy begins.
▪ In these conditions, to encourage mass protest over which they would have no control appeared sheer lunacy.
madness
▪ Clearing a rainforest in this way is sheer madness.
▪ Cutting down the forest is sheer madness.
▪ Moving from the shade to the middle of the field seemed sheer madness.
number
▪ Unfortunately, the Treatises tended to bore their readers through the sheer number of examples cited.
▪ The tendency has been to emphasize the sheer numbers and availability of more workers, the reserve army of labor.
▪ Even here the quality of that achievement remains more important than sheer numbers.
▪ By virtue of their sheer numbers on stage, Lerman said, their simple gestures will become powerful.
▪ A major difference between adult and adolescent reasoning capabilities is the sheer number of schemata, or structures.
▪ There are no reasons why all groups can't mix, except where the sheer numbers of users are dangerous.
▪ One reason for the abundance is the sheer number of tickets to the Games.
numbers
▪ Even here the quality of that achievement remains more important than sheer numbers.
▪ The tendency has been to emphasize the sheer numbers and availability of more workers, the reserve army of labor.
▪ By virtue of their sheer numbers on stage, Lerman said, their simple gestures will become powerful.
▪ The sheer numbers of them make it spectacular although there are no huge centrepiece fireworks.
▪ The sheer numbers of small businesses, always impressive, are today truly awesome.
▪ There are no reasons why all groups can't mix, except where the sheer numbers of users are dangerous.
▪ The power comes from the sheer numbers and multiple connections of so many units operating in concert.
panic
▪ She knew panic when she heard it, and sheer panic was in Philip Arbuthnot's voice.
▪ Wild speculation, low margin requirements and sheer panic triggered the free fall that set off the Great Depression.
pleasure
▪ In Budapest, they still strolled around for the sheer pleasure of it.
▪ However, more wine drinkers are consuming Pinot Noir these days, and the biggest reason is sheer pleasure.
▪ Dolphins have an impressive ability to imitate and learn, often apparently for the sheer pleasure of doing so.
▪ Far more people run or swim or kick a ball for sheer pleasure than ever before.
▪ He says it gives him pleasure, just sheer pleasure.
▪ The sheer pleasure of discovering other people's domestic arrangement stirred in her.
▪ The simplest relationship is the sheer pleasure of immediate consumption of an object which offers no resistance.
power
▪ It's difficult not to be astounded at the sheer power, scale and reach of scientific thinking.
▪ The velocity, the sheer power and the technology of the rocket perhaps makes all the more pitiful our meagre destiny.
▪ This guy consists of sheer power.
▪ This they accomplished through the sheer power of pent-up creativity.
▪ At their best, these wines rival anything produced in Bordeaux, Burgundy or the Napa Valley for complexity and sheer power.
quality
▪ Irrespective of grade they all have one thing in common - sheer quality.
▪ For sheer quality of string sound the Juilliard Quartet probably comes out on top.
quantity
▪ The sheer quantity of calculation and printing required for this stretches the modest administrative processor to its limit for two days.
▪ But more stunning than the sheer quantity of bird life is the apparent organization of these hunters of small fish.
▪ I was astonished by the sheer quantity of stuff in the trunk.
▪ The sheer quantity of matter meant that people did not read all their newspaper.
▪ Although they are now inactive, these old regions of continental flood basalts are impressive because of the sheer quantity of lavas involved.
▪ But the sheer quantity of such texts and the variety of their intended readers and hearers means that some cross-referencing is possible.
▪ If the sheer quantity of information about 1992 is clouding your vision, look no further for the silver lining.
▪ I must take account of the quality of representations as well as the sheer quantity.
rock
▪ The path down to the beach was a precarious one, tiny steps hewn out of the sheer rock face.
▪ Seeing those lofty settlements atop the sheer rocks fires the imagination.
▪ Below the bushes lay a ledge and then a sheer rock face plunging forty feet to the clay-reddened lake.
▪ Before long, Knocknarea towered over me in escarpments of sheer rock, with grassland visible high in the sky.
scale
▪ It was not until daylight broke that the sheer scale of the devastation could be seen.
▪ Anyone wishing to tackle crime rates must pay enormous attention to youth crime because of its sheer scale.
▪ Its sheer scale means that it is important at this stage not to be distracted by companies making misleading ethical claims.
▪ The sheer scale of the service sector has made it the focus for attack by the proponents of the de-industrialisation thesis.
▪ Sometimes the sheer scale of the horror may demand action.
▪ A bigger one is sheer scale.
▪ This, and the sheer scale of the parks, is what strikes the first-time visitor.
▪ But the sheer scale of corruption could well bring them on to the streets again.
size
▪ The last cushion the big studios can rely on is sheer size.
▪ The problem was their sheer size.
▪ I grow bored with the sheer size of the glass and have to force myself to continue, he wrote.
▪ The sheer size of the sanctuary represented Mount Meru, the mythical Olympus on which the gods were believed to live.
▪ One of the difficulties is the sheer size of the family.
▪ The sheer size of the pancakes is truly astounding.
▪ He was slightly taken aback by the sheer size of the girl.
▪ You practically needed a stepladder to get their autographs, and their sheer size and strength was intimidating and overwhelming.
spite
▪ They wanted to peck you all over, out of sheer spite.
▪ Or were they keeping me here out of sheer spite?
terror
▪ Elizabeth: One of sheer terror.
▪ The shoes spoke of moments of sheer terror.
variety
▪ Addison has high praise for the sheer variety of characterisation.
▪ It is the sheer variety of its manifestations that makes hypochondria such an interesting complaint.
▪ Henceforth, the sheer variety of his cartographic output was impressive.
▪ The sheer variety of current systems is phenomenal and it is a full time job just keeping pace with developments.
volume
▪ The sheer volume of insignia required for public services means that insignia can be given only the appearance of precious metals.
▪ The sheer volume of it suffocated every good intention.
▪ In any event the sheer volume and variety of bodies under departmental sponsorship often makes ministerial responsibility something of a myth.
▪ Most bankers say that the sheer volume of checks means that most banks only spot-check signatures.
▪ Aim to increase the proportion of carbohydrates in your diet rather than the sheer volume.
▪ It is not only sheer volume but the nature of the noise that arouses sleepers.
▪ The sheer volume of recommendations from the Task Force ensured that there was potentially something for everyone108.
▪ In contemplating the lair of Ed and Klara Durbeck, the temptation is to gape at the sheer volume of the contents.
weight
▪ Due to its sheer weight it can only be used at the Centre by special permission of the Department of Transport.
▪ The intensity of the introductions made me tremble, overtaken by the sheer weight of their status.
▪ Ari was exhausted by the sheer weight of first impressions of the city.
▪ He forced though - even if going back: the sheer weight of his blows - Anton down on his hands and knees.
▪ In terms of money, grass-roots organization, blocking power and sheer weight, the Democrats and Republicans rule supreme.
▪ In the case of a particularly large breed this is perhaps understandable, because of the sheer weight.
▪ The sheer weight of goodwill fax messages told them of this fact.
▪ The sheer weight of dicta amassed was intimidating, but Mr. Ashworth conceded he could find no authority actually binding on me.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ sheer curtains
▪ I stood at the edge of the old chalk quarry, with a sheer drop of ten or twenty metres below me.
▪ The coastguard patrols paths at the top of high and sheer cliffs.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ For sheer cleverness she could run rings around them all.
▪ For the rest of the programme was sheer hagiography.
▪ Immense and sheer, the mountains emerge from a fog of silk.
▪ Teetering on the sheer cliff, Tallis peered down at the river.
▪ Tennis courts lit pointlessly except to inform the driver of the sheer dimension of the leisure complex burst into life.
▪ The coastguard duties included patrolling paths at the top of high and sheer cliffs - not a job for the faint-hearted.
▪ What he lacked in aesthetic grace Bob Willis made up in speed, determination and sheer guts.
II.adverb
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ On their left it sloped gently away and on the right it fell sheer, in steep crags.
III.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
off
▪ I checked the needles more thoroughly and discovered that the very tip of the latch of a needle was sheered off.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Finally on the fourth day one of the anchor ropes sheered through and we lost that anchor to the gale.
▪ I checked the needles more thoroughly and discovered that the very tip of the latch of a needle was sheered off.
▪ Rimmed by a waist-high balustrade, the garden sheers down some twenty feet.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Sheer

Sheer \Sheer\, a. [OE. shere, skere, pure, bright, Icel. sk?rr; akin to sk[=i]rr, AS. sc[=i]r, OS. sk[=i]ri, MHG. sch[=i]r, G. schier, Dan. sk?r, Sw. sk["a]r, Goth. skeirs clear, and E. shine. [root]157. See Shine, v. i.]

  1. Bright; clear; pure; unmixed. ``Sheer ale.''
    --Shak.

    Thou sheer, immaculate, and silver fountain.
    --Shak.

  2. Very thin or transparent; -- applied to fabrics; as, sheer muslin.

  3. Being only what it seems to be; obvious; simple; mere; downright; as, sheer folly; sheer nonsense. ``A sheer impossibility.''
    --De Quincey.

    It is not a sheer advantage to have several strings to one's bow.
    --M. Arnold.

  4. Stright up and down; vertical; prpendicular.

    A sheer precipice of a thousand feet.
    --J. D. Hooker.

    It was at least Nine roods of sheer ascent.
    --Wordsworth.

Sheer

Sheer \Sheer\, adv. Clean; quite; at once. [Obs.]
--Milton.

Sheer

Sheer \Sheer\, v. t. [See Shear.] To shear. [Obs.]
--Dryden.

Sheer

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.

To sheer off, to turn or move aside to a distance; to move away.

To sheer up, to approach obliquely.

Sheer

Sheer \Sheer\, n.

  1. (Naut.)

    1. The longitudinal upward curvature of the deck, gunwale, and lines of a vessel, as when viewed from the side.

    2. The position of a vessel riding at single anchor and swinging clear of it.

  2. A turn or change in a course.

    Give the canoe a sheer and get nearer to the shore.
    --Cooper.

  3. pl. Shears See Shear.

    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.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
sheer

c.1200, "exempt, free from guilt" (as in Sheer Thursday, the Thursday of Holy Week); later schiere "thin, sparse" (c.1400), from Old English scir "bright, clear, gleaming; translucent; pure, unmixed," and influenced by Old Norse cognate scær "bright, clean, pure," both from Proto-Germanic *skeran- (cognates: Old Saxon skiri, Old Frisian skire, German schier, Gothic skeirs "clean, pure"), from PIE root *(s)ker- (1) "to cut" (see shear (v.)). \n

\nSense of "absolute, utter" (sheer nonsense) developed 1580s, probably from the notion of "unmixed;" that of "very steep" (a sheer cliff) is first recorded 1800, probably from notion of "continued without halting." Meaning "diaphanous" is from 1560s. As an adverb from c.1600.

sheer

1620s, "deviate from course" (of a ship), of obscure origin, perhaps from Dutch scheren "to move aside, withdraw, depart," originally "to separate" (see shear (v.)). Related: Sheered; shearing. As a noun from 1660s.

Wiktionary
sheer

Etymology 1

  1. 1 (context textiles English) Very thin or transparent. 2 (context obsolete English) pure; unmixed. 3 Being only what it seems to be; mere. 4 Very steep; almost vertical or perpendicular. 5 Used to emphasize the amount or degree of something. adv. (context archaic English) clean; quite; at once. Etymology 2

    n. 1 (context nautical English) The curve of the main deck or gunwale from bow to stern. 2 (context nautical English) An abrupt swerve from the course of a ship. v

  2. 1 (context chiefly nautical English) To swerve from a course. 2 (context obsolete English) To shear.

WordNet
sheer

  1. adj. 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, 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]

  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, gossamer, see-through, transparent, vaporous, cobwebby]

  5. adv. straight up or down without a break [syn: perpendicularly]

  6. directly; "he fell sheer into the water"

  7. v. turn sharply; change direction abruptly; "The car cut to the left at the intersection"; "The motorbike veered to the right" [syn: swerve, curve, trend, veer, slue, slew, cut]

  8. cause to sheer; "She sheered her car around the obstacle"

Wikipedia
Sheer

Sheer may refer to:

  • Sheer fabric, a semi-transparent and flimsy fabric
  • Sheer (ship), a measure of longitudinal deck curvature in naval architecture
  • Sheer curation, a lightweight approach to digital curation
  • Sheer Islands, Nunavut, Canada
  • Sheer Music, a record label
  • Sheers, a form of two-legged lifting device
  • Ireen Sheer, a German-British pop singer
  • The Sheer, a Dutch pop band
Sheer (ship)

The sheer is a measure of longitudinal main deck curvature, in naval architecture. The sheer forward is usually twice that of sheer aft. Increases in the rise of the sheer forward and aft builds volume into the hull, and in turn increases its buoyancy forward and aft, thereby keeping the ends from diving into an oncoming wave and slowing the ship. In the early days of sail, one discussed a hull's sheer in terms of how much "Hang" it had. William Sutherland's The Ship-builders Assistant (1711) covers this information in more detail.

The practice of building sheer into a ship dates back to the era of small sailing ships. These vessels were built with the decks curving upwards at the bow and stern in order to increase stability by preventing the ship from pitching up and down.

Sheer on exposed decks makes a ship more seaworthy by raising the deck at fore and aft ends further from the water and by reducing the volume of water coming on deck.

Usage examples of "sheer".

The true Nile, the Eastern Nile, is less a river than a sinuous lake encumbered with islets and sandbanks, and its navigable channel winds capriciously between them, flowing with a strong and steady current below the steep, black banks cut sheer through the alluvial earth.

I began to appreciate the sheer sexual power that had taken possession of me, and with that appreciation came the full arousal that had been denied me.

The cliff wall below the tower was less smooth and far from sheer, and the young monk had to constantly push himself away, angling down and out from the abbey.

Guinevere, despite her apprehension, was astounded by the gilded magnificence of the building that rose sheer and buttressed to the north side of the court.

Even without the Basilisk damage, the sheer astrographic scale of her ops area would have created enough consternation on our side to make all her losses worthwhile.

Wave upon wave of attackers would be sent against the camp until sheer attrition won the day.

Roscani was on the Autostrada, driving north toward Fiano Romano and the hospital there, a juggler with too many balls in the air, a jigsaw man confounded by the sheer number of pieces.

The smooth, gray iron tips gleamed dully in the torchlight, round and barbless, the weapon relying on sheer force of impact, rather than the shredding effect of the warhead for its killing capacity.

If her barracan hindered him, he gave no sign, but lowered his head to press his lips to the curves of her breast through its sheer transparency.

Her half-turned, hand-on-hip position also showed the curve of the hip-hugging black skirt and the beruffled blouse, sheer black like the slightly laddered stocking.

In her wardrobe there are invariably a lot of sheer muslins, voiles and wash silks in white, mauve, greys, pinks, or delicate stripes, the outline following the fashion, voluminous, straight or clinging, the bodice tight with trimmings inset or full, beruffled, or kerchiefed.

So on they went to the point, where the cyclopean wall of granite cliff which forms the western side of Lundy, ends sheer in a precipice of some three hundred feet, topped by a pile of snowwhite rock, bespangled with golden lichens.

No, for the man who kills himself from sheer despair, thus performing upon himself the execution of the sentence he would have deserved at the hands of justice cannot be blamed either by a virtuous philosopher or by a tolerant Christian.

Equally determined that no such horrifying revelation should be made, Pauline Whittle and her husband were clinging grimly to the edges of the pillowcase, and so successful were their joint efforts that, by the sheer weight of their bodies, Quintus Bland was borne off center and crumpled clatteringly back in his chair.

Had the wind been lighter both sails would probably have been left up and brailed, but even with her muffled main still up the mast, the smuggler was starting to sheer quite wildly in the swell.