Shearing forces are unaligned
forces pushing one part of a body in one direction, and another part of the body in the opposite direction. When the forces are aligned into each other, they are called
compression forces. An example is a deck of cards being pushed one way on the top, and the other at the bottom, causing the cards to slide. Another example is when wind blows at the side of a peaked roof of a home - the side walls experience a force at their top pushing in the direction of the wind, and their bottom in the opposite direction, from the ground or foundation. William A. Nash defines shear force in terms of
planes: "If a plane is passed through a body, a force acting along this plane is called a
shear force or
shearing force."