bear
verb (used with object)
to hold up; support.
Showing results for bear.
Search instead for
belar.
bear
1 American
[bair]
/ bษษr /
verb (used with object)
bore,
bare,
borne,
born,
bearing
-
to hold up; support.
to bear the weight of the roof.
-
to hold or remain firm under (a load).
The roof will not bear the strain of his weight.
-
to bring forth (young); give birth to.
to bear a child.
-
to produce by natural growth.
a tree that bears fruit.
- Synonyms:
- yield
-
to hold up under; be capable of.
His claim doesn't bear close examination.
-
to press or push against.
The crowd was borne back by the police.
-
to hold or carry (oneself, one's body, one's head, etc.).
to bear oneself erectly.
-
to conduct (oneselfโ).
to bear oneself bravely.
-
to bear the blame.
-
to sustain without yielding or suffering injury; tolerate (usually used in negative constructions, unless qualified).
I can't bear your nagging. I can hardly bear to see her suffering so.
-
to be fit for or worthy of.
It doesn't bear repeating.
-
to carry; bring.
to bear gifts.
-
to carry in the mind or heart: to bear malice.
to bear love;
to bear malice.
-
to transmit or spread (gossip, tales, etc.).
-
to render; afford; give: to bear testimony.
to bear witness;
to bear testimony.
-
to lead; guide; take.
They bore him home.
-
to have and be entitled to.
to bear title.
-
to bear a resemblance.
-
to accept or have, as an obligation: to bear the cost.
to bear responsibility;
to bear the cost.
-
to stand in (a relation or ratio); have or show correlatively.
the relation that price bears to profit.
-
to possess, as a quality or characteristic; have in or on: to bear an inscription.
to bear traces;
to bear an inscription.
-
to have and use; exercise: to bear sway.
to bear authority;
to bear sway.
verb (used without object)
bore,
bare,
borne,
born,
bearing
-
to tend in a course or direction; move; go: to bear left at the fork in the road.
to bear west;
to bear left at the fork in the road.
-
to be located or situated.
The lighthouse bears due north.
-
to bring forth young or fruit.
Next year the tree will bear.
verb phrase
-
bear with to be patient or forbearing with.
Please bear with me until I finish the story.
-
bear down on / upon
-
to press or weigh down on.
-
to strive toward.
-
to approach something rapidly.
-
Nautical. to approach (another vessel) from windward.
The sloop bore down on us, narrowly missing our stern.
-
-
bear up to endure; face hardship bravely.
It is inspiring to see them bearing up so well.
-
bear out to substantiate; confirm.
The facts bear me out.
-
bear off
-
Nautical. to keep (a boat) from touching or rubbing against a dock, another boat, etc.
-
Nautical. to steer away.
-
Backgammon. to remove the stones from the board after they are all home.
-
-
bear on / upon to affect, relate to, or have connection with; be relevant to.
This information may bear on the case.
-
bear down
-
to press or weigh down.
-
to strive harder; intensify one's efforts.
We can't hope to finish unless everyone bears down.
-
Nautical. to approach from windward, as a ship.
The cutter was bearing down the channel at twelve knots.
-
idioms
-
bear false witness. see bear false witness.
-
bring to bear, to concentrate on with a specific purpose.
Pressure was brought to bear on those with overdue accounts.
-
bear witness. see bear witness.
bear
2
American
[bair]
/ bษษr /
noun
bears,
plural
bear
plural
-
any of the plantigrade, carnivorous or omnivorous mammals of the family Ursidae, having massive bodies, coarse heavy fur, relatively short limbs, and almost rudimentary tails.
-
any of various animals resembling the bear, as the ant bear.
-
a gruff, burly, clumsy, bad-mannered, or rude person.
-
a person who believes that market prices, especially of stocks, will decline (opposed to bull).
-
Informal. a person who shows great ability, enthusiasm, stamina, etc..
a bear for physics.
-
Astronomy. Bear, either of two constellations, Ursa Major or Ursa Minor.
-
Informal. a player at cards who rarely bluffs.
-
Bear. Russia.
adjective
verb (used with object)
beared,
bearing
idioms
Bear
3
American
[bair]
/ bษษr /
noun
bear
1
British
/ bษษ /
verb
-
to support or hold up; sustain
-
to bring or convey
to bear gifts
-
to take, accept, or assume the responsibility of
to bear an expense
-
(past participle bornin passive use except when foll by by) to give birth to
to bear children
-
(also intr) to produce by or as if by natural growth
to bear fruit
-
to tolerate or endure
she couldn't bear him
-
to admit of; sustain
his story does not bear scrutiny
-
to hold in the conscious mind or in one's feelings
to bear a grudge
I'll bear that idea in mind
-
to show or be marked with
he still bears the scars
-
to transmit or spread
to bear gossip
-
to render or supply (esp in the phrase bear witness )
-
to conduct or manage (oneself, the body, etc)
she bore her head high
-
to have, be, or stand in (relation or comparison)
his account bears no relation to the facts
-
(intr) to move, be located, or lie in a specified direction
the way bears east
-
to have by right; be entitled to (esp in the phrase bear title )
-
to give assistance
-
to bring into operation or effect
he brought his knowledge to bear on the situation
bear
2
British
/ bษษ /
noun
-
any plantigrade mammal of the family Ursidae : order Carnivora (carnivores). Bears are typically massive omnivorous animals with a large head, a long shaggy coat, and strong claws See also black bear brown bear polar bear
-
any of various bearlike animals, such as the koala and the ant bear
-
a clumsy, churlish, or ill-mannered person
-
a teddy bear
-
stock exchange
-
a speculator who sells in anticipation of falling prices to make a profit on repurchase
-
( as modifier ) Compare bull 1
a bear market
-
verb
Bear
3
British
/ bษษ /
noun
-
the English name for Ursa Major Ursa Minor
-
an informal name for Russia
bear
More Idioms
Usage
Whatโs the difference between bear and bare? As a verb, bear commonly means to endure something negative (as in I canโt bear to watch) or to carry, hold up, or support (as in The roof canโt bear that much weight), while as a noun it refers to the big furry animal (like grizzly bears and polar bears). Bare can be an adjective that means uncovered (as in bare feet) or empty or without the usual contents (as in bare cabinets or bare walls), or a verb meaning to reveal or open to view (as in bare your secrets). Bare is most commonly used as an adjective, usually involving something uncovered or empty. As a verb, bear is often used in the context of holding or carrying things, including in literal, physical ways (as in bear a load or bear weight) and in figurative ones (as in bear a grudge). To remember the difference in spelling, remember that bears have ears, and they are able to bear a lot of weight because of how big and strong they are, but they are never bare because they are covered in fur. Hereโs an example of bear and bare used correctly in a sentence. Example: Why does the bear never wear shoes? Because he prefers bare feet. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between bear and bare.
Commonly Confused
Since the latter part of the 18th century, a distinction has been made between born and borne as past participles of the verb bear1 . Borne is the past participle in all senses that do not refer to physical birth: The wheatfields have borne abundantly this year. Judges have always borne a burden of responsibility. Borne is also the participle when the sense is โto bring forth (young)โ and the focus is on the mother rather than on the child. In such cases, borne is preceded by a form of have or followed by by: Anna had borne a son the previous year. Two children borne by her earlier were already grown. When the focus is on the offspring or on something brought forth as if by birth, born is the standard spelling, and it occurs only in passive constructions: My friend was born in Ohio. No children have been born at the South Pole. A strange desire was born of the tragic experience. Born is also an adjective meaning โby birth,โ โinnate,โ or โnativeโ: born free; a born troublemaker; Mexican-born.
Synonym Usage
Bear, stand, endure refer to supporting the burden of something distressing, irksome, or painful. Bear and stand are close synonyms and have a general sense of withstanding: to bear a disappointment well; to stand a loss. Endure implies continued resistance and patience in bearing through a long time: to endure torture.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of bear1
First recorded before 900; Middle English beren, Old English beran; cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German beran, Dutch baren, Old Frisian, Old Norse bera, Gothic bairan, German (ge)bรคren, Russian berรซt โ(he) takes,โ Albanian bie, Tocharian pรคr-, Phrygian ab-beret โ(he) brings,โ Latin ferre, Old Irish berid โ(he) carries,โ Armenian berem, Greek phรฉrein, Sanskrit bhรกrati, Avestan baraiti; from Indo-European bher- ( see -fer, -phore)
Origin of bear2
First recorded before 1000; Middle English bere, beare, beor(e), Old English bera; cognate with Frisian bฤr, Dutch beer, Old High German bero, German Bรคr; from Proto-Germanic beran- literally, โthe brown oneโ; akin to Old Norse bjวซrn, bersi; compare Lithuanian beฬฬras โbrownโ; cf. bruin
Explanation
To bear is to carry or endure, whether by physical or mental force. If you can bear to read on, you'll find out all the different ways to use the word bear. Obviously you know the big hairy mountain-roaming animal, but you might not have heard about a bear on Wall Street โ an investor who is pessimistic about the market. In its verb form, bear is rooted in the Old English beran, meaning โto bring forth, sustain, endureโ and more. So you can bear (or carry) a grudge. You can bear (or give birth to) children. Or you can bear (or stand) to listen to your great aunt tell the same story for the umpteenth time if you have a kind soul.
Vocabulary lists containing bear
ACT Vocabulary List
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com โ one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Commonly Confused Words, List 1
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more โ and it's all completely free to use!
"The Banana Tree," Vocabulary from the short story
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com โ we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Bonds in 2022 suffered their worst bear market since 1793, according to the database maintained by Edward McQuarrie, an emeritus professor at Santa Clara University.
From MarketWatch โ Jul. 28, 2026
They were contained in a white china urn with a teddy bear embossed on it, Ness recalled.
From BBC โ Jul. 28, 2026
PayPal on Tuesday said Lores’s strategy is beginning to bear fruit.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Jul. 28, 2026
“Jordan is not a party to this war. Its people should not have to bear the consequences or pay the price for policies that do not serve the nation’s supreme interests,” the letter said.
From Los Angeles Times โ Jul. 28, 2026
Or rather, the shimmering apparition of a bear.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Friends of Big Bear Valley, a nonprofit that operates the nest livestream, has long argued that the roughly 63-acre parcel is a critical hunting ground for the local eagles.
From Los Angeles Times โ Jul. 28, 2026
The funniest part of that conversation is when Sam labels Judith a WOACA, a Woman of a Certain Age, pronouncing it as if he were Fozzie Bear punctuating a joke in an old-timey stand-up set.
From Salon โ Jul. 26, 2026
Sandy Steers, former executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley, helped broker the deal between the land trust and developers.
From Los Angeles Times โ Jul. 24, 2026
A company called Bear Busters said it has installed wiring—an electric force field that delivers a shock—for about 6,000 properties so far.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Jul. 23, 2026
“They don’t call Churchill the Polar Bear Capital of the World for nothing, folks!”
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
The site has also attracted blue herons, kingfishers, otters, deer, bears, California condors and a resident herd of elk notorious for tearing up new seedlings.
From Los Angeles Times โ Jul. 28, 2026
But it could run out very quickly, before the new prison building plan bears fruit, if this controversial early prison release scheme were scrapped.
From BBC โ Jul. 23, 2026
“This apparent standoff between the bulls and the bears reflects short-term temperature outlooks that are only slightly skewed in a bullish direction,” Ritterbusch & Associates says in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Jul. 22, 2026
A police sign hangs above the entrance, while the pavement still bears a memorial stone with the inscription: "For Peace, Freedom and Democracy. Never Again Fascism. Millions of Dead Warn."
From Barron's โ Jul. 22, 2026
Not just for the polar bears, but for the people too.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
“What is required by law as far as disclosure should be treated as the bare minimum,” he said.
From Salon โ Jul. 24, 2026
All of the influence efforts have laid bare the steep climb for Israel.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Jul. 19, 2026
The warm, cozy feeling of the home is in sharp contrast to the vacant, bare property that Mowry-Housley and Housley set their sights on as their next major project.
From MarketWatch โ Jul. 2, 2026
Many were fiercely critical of the state's handling of the disaster, which has left residents in some places digging through rubble with their bare hands to try reach trapped family members.
From Barron's โ Jun. 29, 2026
Records of a volcano’s history are a bare minimum Rocky Crandell and Don Mullineaux had done an excellent job detailing how Mount St. Helens behaved in previous eruptions.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
Herbert escaped the pocket to his left and slung a pass while falling away as defenders beared down.
From Los Angeles Times โ Dec. 19, 2024
Hurricane Otis interrupted tropical vacations for some visitors and put a stop to a mining convention in Acapulco, Mexico, as the storm beared down on the city early Wednesday.
From New York Times โ Oct. 25, 2023
“We had a couple of opportunities to strike when we had some baserunners on. It seems like when we got to those positions, that’s when their guys beared down and made some pitches.”
From Washington Times โ Oct. 9, 2020
Wrestling fans around the world beared witness to some of the most iconic moments in WWE history at Sunday night’s edition of WrestleMania.
From Fox News โ Apr. 8, 2019
After a hesitation, he turned back to Kira and said in a low voice, ‘‘I beared them talking.
From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry
When the chain last year unveiled a new, pared-back logo — bearing only the words “Cracker Barrel” against a yellow background — the news spread through social media, and not in a good way.
From MarketWatch โ Jul. 28, 2026
What we learn in the coming hours will have a big bearing on how we are governed in the coming weeks, months and years.
From BBC โ Jul. 19, 2026
“The blame for this disaster lies solely with GKN and the county should not be bearing the brunt of these expenses,” Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times โ Jul. 18, 2026
Some scholars have suggested that though their faces do not look upward, they are bearing witness to Mary’s coronation and thus engaging with colonial religious views.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Jul. 17, 2026
He waits for her to begin, his expression bearing something that could be construed as very mild interest.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Scientists noted, too, that amphetamine bore a chemical resemblance to dopamine, adding further weight to the connection between dopamine and schizophrenia.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Jul. 28, 2026
Later that afternoon, about four miles away outside of Home Depot in Pasadena, organizers staked in the ground dozens of white crosses that bore photos of the dead — the majority of them men.
From Los Angeles Times โ Jul. 25, 2026
England's only significant change in the India series was a new opening combination of Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell, and it bore fruit at Lord's.
From BBC โ Jul. 20, 2026
Just as residents were beginning to clean up the flood damage, Super Typhoon Bavi bore down on eastern China, threatening more rain.
From Barron's โ Jul. 9, 2026
Every hour, the wind and tide bore us farther toward the Bering Sea.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
Children attend schools that have been failure factories since before they were born, and in some cases before their parents were born.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Jul. 28, 2026
Baker grew up idolizing Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball’s color barrier on April 15, 1947, 26 months before Johnnie B. “Dusty” Baker was born in Riverside.
From Los Angeles Times โ Jul. 28, 2026
I was born with a heart defect, so I see a cardiologist every year to check up on it.
From MarketWatch โ Jul. 28, 2026
He said many had lived their whole lives without ever seeing an All-Ireland win for their county, including his own father Patrick who was born just days after the 1951 victory.
From BBC โ Jul. 27, 2026
When Joan of Arc was born in France in 1412, her country had been fighting England for seventy-five years.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Over the weekend, an uneasy ceasefire established itself across the Persian Gulf, suggesting Signum’s theories had been borne out and validated by events.
From MarketWatch โ Jul. 27, 2026
“Depending on whether the increase is borne by employees or employers, it reduces household income and/or increases production costs, with negative effects on consumption, investment, and/or competitiveness,” the report warns.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Jul. 16, 2026
Seoul, which has borne the brunt of the losses, jumped as much as seven percent at one point.
From Barron's โ Jul. 15, 2026
McKee argues this is the "byโฏfar the best way of doing it" as the costs are borne by more of the population.
From BBC โ Jul. 12, 2026
The efforts of the Joneses and their abolitionist friends had borne fruit.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, ยฉ Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritageยฎ Idioms Dictionary copyright ยฉ 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
