What's the difference between abrupt and sheer?

Abrupt


Definition:

  • (a.) Broken off; very steep, or craggy, as rocks, precipices, banks; precipitous; steep; as, abrupt places.
  • (a.) Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious.
  • (a.) Having sudden transitions from one subject to another; unconnected.
  • (a.) Suddenly terminating, as if cut off.
  • (n.) An abrupt place.
  • (v. t.) To tear off or asunder.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) These two types of transfer functions are appropriate to explain the transition to anaerobic metabolism (anaerobic threshold), with a hyperbolic transfer characteristic representing a graded transition; and a sigmoid transfer characteristic representing an abrupt transition.
  • (2) Abruptly changing cows from one feeding system to another did not influence milk yield, milk composition, or body weight gain.
  • (3) Interphase death thus involves a discrete, abrupt transition from the normal state and is not merely the consequence of progressive and degenerative changes.
  • (4) NPR reported that investigators have not found telltale signs associated with Islamist radicalization , such as a change in mosques or abrupt shifts in behavior or family associations.
  • (5) Echocardiographic findings included an abrupt midsystolic, posterior motion (greater than 3 mm beyond the CD line) in five patients, multiple sequence echoes in six, and posterior coaptation of the mitral valve near the left atrial wall in six.
  • (6) 1) The incidence of premature rupture of the membranes (PROM), threatened premature delivery, toxemia and abruption placentae were 40.6, 36.4, 7.8 and 3.0%, respectively.
  • (7) The present report details an unusual patient with "occult temporal arteritis" who sustained abrupt monocular visual loss and subsequent ipsilateral ophthalmoplegia involving all functions of the oculomotor nerve.
  • (8) The stiffness of the fibre first rose abruptly in response to stretch and then started to decrease linearly while the stretch went on; after the completion of stretch the stiffness decreased towards a steady value which was equal to that during the isometric tetanus at the same sarcomere length, indicating that the enhancement of isometric force is associated with decreased stiffness.
  • (9) We conclude that CJD-related neuropathological phenomena do not accumulate gradually through the incubation period but develop relatively abruptly and in complete form.
  • (10) It inherited an economy that was growing quite strongly but activity came to an abrupt halt last autumn and has flatlined ever since.
  • (11) An abrupt decrease of the liver glycogen was found as well as a negligible rise of the blood sugar.
  • (12) Abrupt withdrawal jumping behavior in morphine-dependent mice is accompanied by a decrease in brain dopamine turnover and an increase in brain dopamine level which parallel strain differences in jumping incidence.
  • (13) In the active phase all the patients exhibited an abrupt increase in the activity of alkaline and acid phosphatase in blood neutrophils, a drop in the level of CP (in 69%), a rise in the activity of MP (in 32%); pyrogenal did not induce any capacity for restoring HCT (in 44%).
  • (14) During the development of the PM, all five RNAs exhibited the same schedule of accumulation, appearing de novo, or increasing abruptly just before PM ingression, and remaining at relatively high levels thereafter.
  • (15) In each case, the surgical procedure was nearly complete when an abrupt and persistent loss of SSEPs occurred.
  • (16) Following a midcollicular transection the paroxysmal bulbar activity abruptly disappeared.
  • (17) These channels underlie the graded active responses that can be elicited at the offset of abrupt hyperpolarizing and depolarizing intracellular current pulses.
  • (18) The main response characteristics are an immediate motor 'paralysis' (prolonged and generalized immobility), unresponsiveness, and abrupt and profound bradycardia.
  • (19) LAD to LCCA collaterals serve as functionally significant bidirectional perfusion conduits, and monitoring of collateral perfusion development is practical by measuring the step reduction in LCCA flow upon abrupt release of an LAD occlusion.
  • (20) Using concurrent videoendoscopy and manometry, glottal and upper esophageal sphincter (UES) responses to abrupt esophageal distention by air injection (10-60 mL) and balloon distention (1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 cm) were recorded simultaneously.

Sheer


Definition:

  • (v. i.) Bright; clear; pure; unmixed.
  • (v. i.) Very thin or transparent; -- applied to fabrics; as, sheer muslin.
  • (v. i.) Being only what it seems to be; obvious; simple; mere; downright; as, sheer folly; sheer nonsense.
  • (v. i.) Stright up and down; vertical; prpendicular.
  • (adv.) Clean; quite; at once.
  • (v. t.) To shear.
  • (v. i.) To decline or deviate from the line of the proper course; to turn aside; to swerve; as, a ship sheers from her course; a horse sheers at a bicycle.
  • (n.) The longitudinal upward curvature of the deck, gunwale, and lines of a vessel, as when viewed from the side.
  • (n.) The position of a vessel riding at single anchor and swinging clear of it.
  • (n.) A turn or change in a course.
  • (n.) Shears See Shear.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Problems associated with school-based clinics include vehement opposition to sex education, financing, and the sheer magnitude of the adolescents' health needs.
  • (2) They argue that the US, the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases per capita (China recently surpassed us in sheer volume), needs to lead the fight to limit carbon emissions, rather continuing to block global treaties as it has done in the past.
  • (3) But with the advantages and attractions that Scotland already has, and, more importantly, taking into account the morale boost, the sheer energisation of a whole people that would come about because we would finally have our destiny at least largely back in our own hands again – I think we could do it.
  • (4) Obviously, the sheer number of lasers being used both clinically and experimentally indicates a great potential for further advancement and refinement in technique and surgical outcomes.
  • (5) I was amazed by the sheer scale of the operation, easily mistaken for a full military assault on a kraken.
  • (6) We can inhabit only one version of being human – the only version that survives today – but what is fascinating is that palaeoanthropology shows us those other paths to becoming human, their successes and their eventual demise, whether through failure or just sheer bad luck.
  • (7) The report, extracts of which were published by the investigative news website Exaro , is said to include “devastating detail” of the corporation’s “sheer scale of awareness” of the late star’s activities.
  • (8) There is a policy review process, a manifesto and the small matter of winning another election between here and catastrophe, but the sheer barbarism of the outlined idea is breathtaking.
  • (9) Back in the 1970s, a severe economic crisis revealed the sheer unsustainability of government policies.
  • (10) So we started asking them ridiculous questions about being single," says Lucas, "and the sheer number of misunderstandings about each other's lives felt like comedic material."
  • (11) He skirted round the issue of historic responsibility for the misery but referred to the sheer scale of the sacrifice, pointing out that, among more than 14,000 parishes in the whole of England and Wales, only about 50 so-called "thankful parishes" saw all their soldiers return.
  • (12) But all that has changed since I discovered the sheer joy of hunting down items with “reduced” stickers at my local Waitrose.
  • (13) TUC general secretary Brendan Barber welcomed the letters, which argue against the Conservative party's position that the sheer scale of the UK deficit means public spending must be cut immediately.
  • (14) This year though, the annual fest of tit tape, weepy self-congratulation and sheer star power will be remembered for more than a frock faux pas: there was a serious cock-up .
  • (15) Brown, from Sheerness in Kent, who was to earn £15,000 a year from the role, has apologised for causing offence with the messages she posted between the ages of 14 and 16.
  • (16) I hope that people feel inspired enough, maybe in the sheer face of loss, to just do what they should be doing in life.
  • (17) David Winnick, the MP for Walsall North, said: "None of [May's] excuses can explain away the sheer incompetence and shambles that have occurred on her watch."
  • (18) Through combination with a spherical disc face perpendicular to the axis of rotation, which protrudes only slightly from the hemispherical catheter tip, with a maximum at the center and minimum at the lateral borders, the lathing head has only a slight risk of perforation and no undesired sheering forces (Figures 2a to 2d).
  • (19) Redwoods are taller, but giant sequoias win for sheer mass: the General Sherman's trunk has a volume of 1,487 cubic metres and is estimated to weigh over 2,000 tonnes.
  • (20) "Some of you may have heard we have a new judge this year," said Forsyth, summoning his finest brow-raise and hauling the audience at least temporarily on side by sheer force of showbiz will.