From 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"