black bear

American  

noun

• black bears
  plural

1. a medium-sized North American bear, Ursus (Euarctos ) americanus, relatively common in uninhabited mountainous areas, ranging from light brown to black with a straight brown muzzle: northern populations may be gray to near-white.

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black bear British  

noun

1. a bear, Euarctos (or Ursus ) americanus , inhabiting forests of North America. It is smaller and less ferocious than the brown bear

2. a bear, Selenarctos thibetanus , of central and E Asia, whose coat is black with a pale V-shaped mark on the chest

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• black bears
  plural

Etymology

Origin of black bear

First recorded in 1735–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

black bear

There is one final bit of irony: Cornell’s longtime unofficial mascot is Touchdown the Big Red Bear, a tradition dating to 1915, when the football team once adopted a live black bear.

From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026

The incident occurred in September 2025, when students living in Ganędagǫ Hall reported seeing two classmates processing a black bear in the residence hall’s communal kitchen.

From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026

The famous toy bear Winnie took its name from a black bear in London Zoo, that was particularly popular with children, including the son of AA Milne.

From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2026

Video captured on Mount Wilson in the Angeles National Forest showed a black bear charging at a hiker.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026

As words from the Koran reverberated through the room, I thought of the old story of Baba wrestling a black bear in Baluchistan.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini