bruin
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bruin
1475–85; < Middle Dutch bruyn, bruun literally, the brown one, name of the bear in the fable of Reynard the Fox
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:
When the bruin returned, it was met with tiny shocks from an electrified mat, which made him scurry away.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 13, 2026
Dubbed “BB14,” this plump bruin and her three cubs have settled behind mansions, interrupted a Mahjong tournament, shut down streets, attracted a TV helicopter and snatched koi out of a man-made pond.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
The result marks an end to Fat Bear Week 2022, which saw people from around the world vote for the fattest bruin at Alaska's Katmai National Park.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2022
Investigators obtained DNA left by the bear in the attack and could compare it with any bruin they are able to trap.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 8, 2021
The door was then opened by the keeper, but poor bruin shrunk from the contest.
From Pencillings by the Way Written During Some Years of Residence and Travel in Europe by Willis, N. Parker
Some people say that the Eaton fire in Altadena worsened the situation, driving bruins whose habitat was destroyed into residential areas to seek food, water and shelter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026
State officials have had to capture “conflict” bruins and relocate them deep in the woods.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
But for many scientists, the true fascination of Fat Bear Week involves what happens next, when the now beachball-shaped bruins, carrying about 40 percent body fat, lumber into their dens and start hibernating.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 5, 2022
Unbeknownst to the enormous bruins, some of them are also competing in Katmai National Park and Preserve's Fat Bear Week, Alaska's annual celebration of gluttony and nature's abundance.
From Reuters ● Sep. 28, 2021
The New York five are taking it in a temper of stolid philosophy, being bruins of experience.
From The President A novel by Lewis, Alfred Henry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
