Meanings
plural shear-poles
- alternativeAlternative form of shearpole.
The gaff and the luff run on this fore shear-pole, as if it were a stay.
1886 February, Charles Ledyard Norton, “Yachting in Midwinter”, in Outing, volume 9, number 5, page 4242 more examples
The ratlines of the lower rigging should be thirteen, and of the topmast rigging eleven inches apart, and all square with the shear-pole.
1864, Thomas Liddell Ainsley, A guide book to the Local marine board examination, page 243The door of the steerage room slammed behind Captain John Mayhue as he reached for a shear-pole and swung himself up into the mizzen rigging to see for himself.
2016, Rob MacGregor, The Lost Tribe
Cite this entry
shear-pole. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shear-pole
“shear-pole.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shear-pole. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shear-pole,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shear-pole.
Source: shear-pole on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.