Dictionary

beshear en · VERB

Etymology

From Middle English bischeren, from Old English besċieran, besċeran (“to shear, shave, cut hair, give the tonsure”), from Proto-West Germanic *biskeran (“to cut off”), equivalent to be- (“around, off, away”) + shear. Cognate with Saterland Frisian beskere, West Frisian beskeare, Dutch bescheren, German Low German bescheren, German bescheren.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To shear or shave off; shear or shave all over.
   • Eld trees arise: grim druids of the wood, Long since beshorn of their prime loveliness, Solemn they frown upon the solitude; […] 1871, Hector A. Stuart, Ben Nebo: A Pilgrimage in the South Seas in Three Cantos, page 30:
   • Wiglaf mine lief, now that lieth the Worm And sleepeth sore wounded, beshorn of his treasure; […] 1898, William Morris, Tale of Beowulf, page 156:

Forms