Shearers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals or machines that cut or trim wool or hair from animals
2. Workers who harvest or clip the fleece of sheep or other livestock
3. Tools or devices utilized to perform the act of cutting through fibers or hair with precision

Etymology: "Shearers" is the plural of "shearer," which is simply "shear" with the agent suffix "-er" attached. "Shear" traces back to Proto-Germanic "skeraną," meaning to cut or clip, and reached English as Old English "sċieran." The suffix has a longer ancestry: it passed from Latin "-ārius" through Old French "-ier" into Middle English "-er," and Old English already had its own version, "-ere," which the modern form descends from. Used for people, "shearers" describes the workers who clip the fleeces off sheep, a job that once demanded real skill and speed. Its later extension to machines, which cut or trim wool or hair mechanically, simply carries the same idea over to tools that do the cutting instead of hands.

Synonyms: cutters, trimmers