Definitions for: Bear


[n] massive plantigrade carnivorous or omnivorous mammals with long shaggy coats and strong claws
[n] an investor with a pessimistic market outlook
[v] have on one's person; "He wore a red ribbon"; "bear a scar"
[v] give birth (to a newborn); "My wife had twins yesterday!"
[v] be pregnant with; "She is bearing his child"; "The are expecting another child in January"; "I am carrying his child"
[v] put up with something or somebody unpleasant; "I cannot bear his constant criticism"; "The new secretary had to endure a lot of unprofessional remarks"; "he learned to tolerate the heat"
[v] move while holding up or supporting; "Bear gifts"; "bear a heavy load"; "bear news"; "bearing orders"
[v] support or hold in a certain manner; "She holds her head high"; "He carried himself upright"
[v] bring forth, "The apple tree bore delicious apples this year"; "The unidentified plant bore gorgeous flowers"
[v] bring in; as of investments; "interest-bearing accounts"; "How much does this savings certificate pay annually?"
[v] take on as one's own the expenses or debts of another person; "I'll accept the charges"; "She agreed to bear the responsibility"
[v] have rightfully; of rights, titles, and offices; "She bears the title of Duchess"; "He held the governorship for almost a decade"
[v] behave in a certain manner; "She carried herself well"; "he bore himself with dignity"; "They conducted themselves well during these difficult times"
[v] have; "bear a resemblance"; "bear a signature"
[v] contain or hold; have within; "The jar carries wine"; "The canteen holds fresh water"; "This can contains water"



Webster (1913) Definition: Bear (b[^a]r), v. t. [imp. Bore (b[=o]r) (formerly
Bare (b[^a]r)); p. p. Born (b[^o]rn), Borne (b[=o]r);
p. pr. & vb. n. Bearing.] [OE. beren, AS. beran, beoran, to
bear, carry, produce; akin to D. baren to bring forth, G.
geb["a]ren, Goth. ba['i]ran to bear or carry, Icel. bera, Sw.
b["a]ra, Dan. b[ae]re, OHG. beran, peran, L. ferre to bear,
carry, produce, Gr. fe`rein, OSlav brati to take, carry, OIr.
berim I bear, Skr. bh[.r] to bear. [root]92. Cf. Fertile.]
1. To support or sustain; to hold up.

2. To support and remove or carry; to convey.

I 'll bear your logs the while. --Shak.

3. To conduct; to bring; -- said of persons. [Obs.]

Bear them to my house. --Shak.

4. To possess and use, as power; to exercise.

Every man should bear rule in his own house.
--Esther i.
22.

5. To sustain; to have on (written or inscribed, or as a
mark), as, the tablet bears this inscription.

6. To possess or carry, as a mark of authority or
distinction; to wear; as, to bear a sword, badge, or name.

7. To possess mentally; to carry or hold in the mind; to
entertain; to harbor --Dryden.

The ancient grudge I bear him. --Shak.

8. To endure; to tolerate; to undergo; to suffer.

Should such a man, too fond to rule alone, Bear,
like the Turk, no brother near the throne. --Pope.

I cannot bear The murmur of this lake to hear.
--Shelley.

My punishment is greater than I can bear. --Gen. iv.
13.

9. To gain or win. [Obs.]

Some think to bear it by speaking a great word.
--Bacon.

She was . . . found not guilty, through bearing of
friends and bribing of the judge. --Latimer.

10. To sustain, or be answerable for, as blame, expense,
responsibility, etc.

He shall bear their iniquities. --Is. liii.
11.

Somewhat that will bear your charges. --Dryden.

11. To render or give; to bring forward. ``Your testimony
bear'' --Dryden.

12. To carry on, or maintain; to have. ``The credit of
bearing a part in the conversation.'' --Locke.

13. To admit or be capable of; that is, to suffer or sustain
without violence, injury, or change.

In all criminal cases the most favorable
interpretation should be put on words that they can
possibly bear. --Swift.

14. To manage, wield, or direct. ``Thus must thou thy body
bear.'' --Shak. Hence: To behave; to conduct.

Hath he borne himself penitently in prison ?
--Shak.

15. To afford; to be to; to supply with.

His faithful dog shall bear him company. --Pope.

16. To bring forth or produce; to yield; as, to bear apples;
to bear children; to bear interest.

Here dwelt the man divine whom Samos bore.
--Dryden.

Note: In the passive form of this verb, the best modern usage
restricts the past participle born to the sense of
brought forth, while borne is used in the other senses
of the word. In the active form, borne alone is used as
the past participle.

To bear down.
(a) To force into a lower place; to carry down; to
depress or sink. ``His nose, . . . large as were the
others, bore them down into insignificance.''
--Marryat.
(b) To overthrow or crush by force; as, to bear down an
enemy.

To bear a hand.
(a) To help; to give assistance.
(b) (Naut.) To make haste; to be quick.

To bear in hand, to keep (one) up in expectation, usually
by promises never to be realized; to amuse by false
pretenses; to delude. [Obs.] ``How you were borne in hand,
how crossed.'' --Shak.

To bear in mind, to remember.

To bear off.
(a) To restrain; to keep from approach.
(b) (Naut.) To remove to a distance; to keep clear from
rubbing against anything; as, to bear off a blow; to
bear off a boat.
(c) To gain; to carry off, as a prize.

To bear one hard, to owe one a grudge. [Obs.] ``C[ae]sar
doth bear me hard.'' --Shak.

To bear out.
(a) To maintain and support to the end; to defend to the
last. ``Company only can bear a man out in an ill
thing.'' --South.
(b) To corroborate; to confirm.

To bear up, to support; to keep from falling or sinking.
``Religious hope bears up the mind under sufferings.''
--Addison.

Syn: To uphold; sustain; maintain; support; undergo; suffer;
endure; tolerate; carry; convey; transport; waft.


Bear, v. i.
1. To produce, as fruit; to be fruitful, in opposition to
barrenness.

This age to blossom, and the next to bear. --Dryden.

2. To suffer, as in carrying a burden.

But man is born to bear. --Pope.

3. To endure with patience; to be patient.

I can not, can not bear. --Dryden.

4. To press; -- with on or upon, or against.

These men bear hard on the suspected party.
--Addison.

5. To take effect; to have influence or force; as, to bring
matters to bear.

6. To relate or refer; -- with on or upon; as, how does this
bear on the question?

7. To have a certain meaning, intent, or effect.

Her sentence bore that she should stand a certain
time upon the platform. --Hawthorne.

8. To be situated, as to the point of compass, with respect
to something else; as, the land bears N. by E.

To bear against, to approach for attack or seizure; as, a
lion bears against his prey. [Obs.]

To bear away (Naut.), to change the course of a ship, and
make her run before the wind.

To bear back, to retreat. ``Bearing back from the blows of
their sable antagonist.'' --Sir W. Scott.

To bear down upon (Naut.), to approach from the windward
side; as, the fleet bore down upon the enemy.

To bear in with (Naut.), to run or tend toward; as, a ship
bears in with the land.

To bear off (Naut.), to steer away, as from land.

To bear up.
(a) To be supported; to have fortitude; to be firm; not to
sink; as, to bear up under afflictions.
(b) (Naut.) To put the helm up (or to windward) and so put
the ship before the wind; to bear away. --Hamersly.

To bear upon (Mil.), to be pointed or situated so as to
affect; to be pointed directly against, or so as to hit
(the object); as, to bring or plant guns so as to bear
upon a fort or a ship; the artillery bore upon the center.


To bear up to, to tend or move toward; as, to bear up to
one another.

To bear with, to endure; to be indulgent to; to forbear to
resent, oppose, or punish.


Bear, n.
A bier. [Obs.] --Spenser.


Bear, n. [OE. bere, AS. bera; akin to D. beer, OHG. bero,
pero, G. b["a]r, Icel. & Sw. bj["o]rn, and possibly to L.
fera wild beast, Gr. ? beast, Skr. bhalla bear.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) Any species of the genus Ursus, and of the
closely allied genera. Bears are plantigrade Carnivora,
but they live largely on fruit and insects.

Note: The European brown bear (U. arctos), the white polar
bear (U. maritimus), the grizzly bear ({U.
horribilis}), the American black bear, and its variety
the cinnamon bear (U. Americanus), the Syrian bear
(Ursus Syriacus), and the sloth bear, are among the
notable species.

2. (Zo["o]l.) An animal which has some resemblance to a bear
in form or habits, but no real affinity; as, the woolly
bear; ant bear; water bear; sea bear.

3. (Astron.) One of two constellations in the northern
hemisphere, called respectively the Great Bear and the
Lesser Bear, or Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

4. Metaphorically: A brutal, coarse, or morose person.

5. (Stock Exchange) A person who sells stocks or securities
for future delivery in expectation of a fall in the
market.

Note: The bears and bulls of the Stock Exchange, whose
interest it is, the one to depress, and the other to
raise, stocks, are said to be so called in allusion to
the bear's habit of pulling down, and the bull's of
tossing up.

6. (Mach.) A portable punching machine.

7. (Naut.) A block covered with coarse matting; -- used to
scour the deck.

Australian bear. (Zo["o]l.) See Koala.

Bear baiting, the sport of baiting bears with dogs.

Bear caterpillar (Zo["o]l.), the hairy larva of a moth,
esp. of the genus Euprepia.

Bear garden.
(a) A place where bears are kept for diversion or
fighting.
(b) Any place where riotous conduct is common or
permitted. --M. Arnold.

Bear leader, one who leads about a performing bear for
money; hence, a facetious term for one who takes charge of
a young man on his travels.


Bear, v. t. (Stock Exchange)
To endeavor to depress the price of, or prices in; as, to
bear a railroad stock; to bear the market.


Bear, Bere Bere, n. [AS. bere. See Barley.] (Bot.)
Barley; the six-rowed barley or the four-rowed barley,
commonly the former (Hord. vulgare). [Obs. except in North
of Eng. and Scot.]

Synonyms: abide, accept, acquit, assume, behave, birth, brook, carry, comport, conduct, contain, deliver, deport, endure, give birth, hold, hold, hold, pay, put up, stand, stomach, suffer, support, take over, tolerate, turn out, wear, yield

Antonyms: bull

See Also: accept, act, allow, American black bear, Asiatic black bear, assert, balance, bear, bear out, bear up, black bear, bring forth, bring in, brown bear, bruin, carnivore, carry, carry, circle, clear, conceive, confine, corroborate, countenance, create, crop, deal, displace, drop, earn, encircle, enclose, environ, Euarctos americanus, face the music, family Ursidae, feature, feature, fluster, foal, frogmarch, fruit, gain, have, have, have, have got, hold, hold in, hold still for, house, ice bear, include, investor, kitten, lamb, let, litter, live with, make, make, Melursus ursinus, move, move, net, overbear, pay, pay off, permit, piggyback, poise, polar bear, pose, produce, pull in, put forward, realise, realize, retain, ring, round, seed, Selenarctos thibetanus, sit out, sloth bear, spin off, stand for, stoop, submit, support, surround, swallow, take, take, take a joke, take in, take lying down, Thalarctos maritimus, transport, twin, undergo, underpin, Ursidae, Ursus americanus, Ursus arctos, Ursus Maritimus, Ursus thibetanus, Ursus ursinus, walk around

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