The application relates to a plasticizing unit with a cylinder and a screw that is rotatably mounted in the cylinder and has a screw section which is designed as a shearing section and in which a blocking web encircling the screw core in a helical manner and a main screw thread enclosed by the blocking web are provided. A shearing web runs in the main screw thread parallel to the blocking web at a lower height than the blocking web. In this manner, two screw threads are produced which run parallel to each other and are separated by the shearing web. The threads are designed in the form of wave screw threads. Each wave screw thread is equipped with one or more wave peaks with a surface which is designed in the form of a plateau and forms a wave peak shearing surface, wherein the wave peak shearing surface is located at the same height as the surface of the shearing web in the region. The shearing web surface section which lies in the region of a wave peak shearing surface constitutes a shearing web sharing surface. A wave peak shearing surface and a shearing web shearing surface together form a total shearing surface. A specified total shearing surface together with the inner wall of the cylinder forms a shearing gap in accordance with a shearing gap size specified for the total shearing surface.