# shear vs shell

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### shear
*verb · IPA /ʃɪə(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #17,239*
To remove the fleece from (a sheep, llama, etc.) by clipping.

### shell
*noun · IPA /ʃɛl/ · frequency rank #3,726*
A hard external covering of an animal.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shear-vs-shell