black bear

noun

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.

black bear

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of black bear¹

First recorded in 1735–45

Example Sentences

That instinct led one hungry black bear to a South Lake Tahoe home across the Nevada border, surprising an 87-year-old man who had stepped into his garage for firewood before dawn Wednesday.

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She’s also draped in fur—standard attire for a black bear.

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A black bear that locals named “Charlie” made his debut as the first guest on the rink this year, sliding across the ice shortly after 10 p.m. on Thursday, according to staff.

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They were the tracks of a black bear.

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Then there was the light pollution, worsening crime, and, strange to say, a lot of black bears roaming the city streets.

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