bearing

American  

[bair-ing] / ˈbɛər ɪŋ /

noun

• bearings
  plural

1. the manner in which one conducts or carries oneself, including posture and gestures.

   a man of dignified bearing.

   Synonyms:

   conduct, behavior, demeanor, mien, carriage

2. the act, capability, or period of producing or bringing forth.

   a tree past bearing.

3. something that is produced; a crop.

4. the act of enduring or capacity to endure.

5. reference or relation (usually followed byon ).

   It has some bearing on the problem.

   Synonyms:

   application, dependency, connection

6. Architecture.

   1. a supporting part of a structure.

   2. the area of contact between a bearing member, as a beam, and a pier, wall, or other underlying support.

7. Machinery. the support and guide for a rotating, oscillating, or sliding shaft, pivot, or wheel.

8. Often bearings. direction or relative position.

   The pilot radioed his bearings.

   Synonyms:

   aim, course

9. Surveying. a horizontal direction expressed in degrees east or west of a true or magnetic north or south direction.

10. Heraldry. any single device on an escutcheon; charge.

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bearing British  

/ ˈbɛərɪŋ /

noun

1. a support, guide, or locating piece for a rotating or reciprocating mechanical part

2. relevance (to)

   it has no bearing on this problem

3. a person's general social conduct, esp in manners, dress, and behaviour

4. 1. the act, period, or capability of producing fruit or young

   2. an amount produced; yield

5. the part of a beam or lintel that rests on a support

6. anything that carries weight or acts as a support

7. the angular direction of a line, point, or course measured from true north or south ( true bearing ), magnetic north or south ( magnetic bearing ), or one's own position

8. (usually plural) the position or direction, as of a ship, fixed with reference to two or more known points

9. (usually plural) a sense of one's relative position or situation; orientation (esp in the phrases lose , get , or take one's bearings )

10. heraldry

    1. a device or emblem on a heraldic shield; charge

    2. another name for coat of arms

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Synonym Usage

See manner ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unbearing
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• bearings
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of bearing

First recorded in 1200–50, bearing is from the Middle English word beryng. See bear ¹, -ing ¹

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Explanation

When you walk into a room with your shoulders straight and your head up, people might say you have a noble bearing. Bearing is the way you hold your body, and it often means you hold it well. Bearing has many uses, but they mostly involve support and/or direction. Bearing, for example, is the name given to a mechanical part that supports a moving joint — like a ball bearing. In buildings, bearings are walls or beams that support the building. In the same way, when you carry your body, you are bearing yourself up. Bearing also is used to talk about direction and travel: you could step off the sidewalk and nearly be run over by a car bearing north.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bearing bearings

Wardley, sporting Ipswich Town's newly-launched third kit with his name printed on the sleeve, was still bearing the scars of his punishing defeat in Manchester five months ago.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Pacific Time holding green baseball caps bearing the word “thinking” and the Claude logo sewn discreetly on the side of the caps.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Nori Juba, 61, found what he was looking for: a large sign bearing the name of Grand Central station, along with the numbers of the subway lines he takes every day.

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026

Hurricane Simon is bearing down on the Pacific coast of Mexico as a category one hurricane.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

We set out for Babci’s on a perfect August afternoon, meeting at the train station, me carrying one small bag—the country did not require much of a wardrobe—and Olka bearing a trunk.

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

After a slow start as the then-35-year-old with no prior managerial experience found his bearings, Chandler built a talented team which became the envy of non-league football nationwide.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

One possibility is that this new Fed moves too slowly to respond to the oil-price shock while it finds its intellectual bearings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

Morgan Stanley projected annual bearings sales tied to robotics will rise from about 200 million units in 2025 to more than 40 billion units by 2050.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

“The second is the component layer beneath them, the motors, reducers, bearings, sensors, and power content inside the machines themselves.”

From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026

Ophie knocked her shin into a wooden crate full of Christmas ornaments and stumbled into a hatstand before she managed to gain her bearings.

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland

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Related Words

• demeanor
• manner

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