Share or shear?
share is a noun meaning “A portion of something, especially a portion given or allotted to someone”; shear is a verb meaning “To remove the fleece from (a sheep, llama, etc.) by clipping”. Use share as a noun and shear as a verb (shear is also a noun: “A cutting tool similar to scissors, but often larger”). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) share is about 63 times as common as shear.
What is the difference between share and shear?
| share | shear | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | verb, noun |
| Meaning | A portion of something, especially a portion given or allotted to someone A financial instrument that shows that one owns a part of a company that provides the benefit of limited liability To give part of what one has to somebody else to use or consume | To remove the fleece from (a sheep, llama, etc.) by clipping To cut the hair of (a person) A cutting tool similar to scissors, but often larger |
| Example | Each of the robbers took a share of the loot | shear the llamas |
| Forms | shares | shears, shearing, sheared, shore, shorn |
| Pronunciation | /ʃɛə/ /ʃɛː/ /ʃɛɚ/ | /ʃɪə/ /ʃɪː/ /ʃɪjə/ |
| In writing | 158 times per million words | 2.5 times per million words |
Sources: share and shear in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of share and shear
share
- 1
A portion of something, especially a portion given or allotted to someone
Each of the robbers took a share of the loot
- 2
To give part of what one has to somebody else to use or consume
- 3
The cutting blade of an agricultural machine like a plough, a cultivator or a seeding-machine
- 4
A financial instrument that shows that one owns a part of a company that provides the benefit of limited liability
- 5
To have or use in common
to share a shelter with another
- 6
A configuration enabling a resource to be shared over a network
Upload media from the browser or directly to the file share
- 7
To divide and distribute
- 8
The action of sharing something with other people via social media
shear
- 1
To remove the fleece from (a sheep, llama, etc.) by clipping
shear the llamas
- 2
A cutting tool similar to scissors, but often larger
- 3
To cut the hair of (a person)
shear the afro off someone's head
- 4
A large machine use for cutting sheet metal
- 5
To cut, originally with a sword or other bladed weapon, now usually with shears, or as if using shears
- 6
The act of shearing, or something removed by shearing
- 7
To deform because of forces pushing in opposite directions
- 8
Forces that push in opposite directions
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, share or shear?
share appears 158 times per million words; shear 2.5 times per million words.
share 158 times per million wordsshear 2.5 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).