All 4 Uses of
sheer
in
To Kill a Mockingbird
- I looked up to see Miss Caroline standing in the middle of the room, sheer horror flooding her face.
p. 28.8 *sheer = complete
- We bounded down the sidewalk on a spree of sheer relief, leaping and howling.
p. 126.6
- You did all this chopping and work from sheer goodness, boy?
p. 224.3sheer = pure (without other reasons)
- I sometimes felt a twinge of remorse, when passing by the old place, at ever having taken part in what must have been sheer torment to Arthur Radley—what reasonable recluse wants children peeping through his shutters, delivering greetings on the end of a fishing-pole, wandering in his collards at night?
p. 277.8sheer = complete
Definitions:
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(1)
(sheer as in: a sheer blouse) typically of fabric: very thin and delicate -- often transparent
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(2)
(sheer as in: sheer fun) complete or pure -- without restriction, qualification, or other elements (used for emphasis)
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(3)
(sheer as in: a sheer cliff) so steep it is almost vertical
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(4)
(sheer as in: sheer to the left) change direction; or to cause such a change of direction -- usually abruptly
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(5)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Sheer can also be an alternative spelling for shear (to cut).