Shear and sheer are two words that many people mix up due to being homophones (words that sound similar), but they are quite different. Shear can be used as a verb or as a noun, and it usually relates to cutting or removing hair and fleece. Sheer is most often used as an adjective and noun, although it can be used as a verb in very specific situations.
Here are some definitions and examples to help make the use of these words clearer.
Shear (verb)
To cut something with a blade, usually shears (see noun definition).
Examples
Very interesting that the pilot and tug was requested at 01:29:39
So it would appear that the pilot and tugs that were used to get the ship from the dock to the channel may have been “released” prematurely as the ship never actually got stabilized in the channel —. Intentional sabotage? Maybe ?
Also the speed of 8 knots seems to be very high given the size and weight of the ship. I suspect that the first safety recommendation the NTSB could/should issue is a channel speed limit of under 5 knots and maybe under 3 knots for ships over a certain weight ?
Thoughts ?
I don’t know the context of her word usage but her job is a position and the situation is such that the use of shear in its engineering meaning may have been intended. Like shear force, shear load, failure in shear, etc. Since we’re dealing with a bridge being structurally destroyed that meaning may have been appropriate.
By the way, the clearly competent NTSB chair, while a Democrat, was appointed to the NTSB by Trump who obviously named her because of her competence and not because of politics. She was then later promoted to be the NTSB chairman position during the Biden Administration.