bear

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Origin: OE. beren, AS. beran, beoran, to bear, carry, produce; akin to D. baren to bring forth, G. gebären, Goth. baíran to bear or carry, Icel. bera, Sw. bära, Dan. bære, OHG. beran, peran, L. ferre to bear, carry, produce, Gr. φέρειν, OSlav. brati to take, carry, OIr. berim I bear, Skr. bhṛ to bear. √92. Cf. Fertile.

1. To support or sustain; to hold up.

2. To support and remove or carry; to convey.

I 'll bear your logs the while.— William Shakespeare

3. To conduct; to bring; — said of persons. obsolete

Bear them to my house.— William Shakespeare

4. To possess and use, as power; to exercise.

Every man should bear rule in his own house.— Esther i. 22.

5. To sustain; to have on (written or inscribed, or as a mark), as, the tablet bears this inscription.

6. To possess or carry, as a mark of authority or distinction; to wear; as, to bear a sword, badge, or name.

7. To possess mentally; to carry or hold in the mind; to entertain; to harbor John Dryden

The ancient grudge I bear him.— William Shakespeare

8. To endure; to tolerate; to undergo; to suffer.

Should such a man, too fond to rule alone, Bear, like the Turk, no brother near the throne.— Alexander Pope

I cannot bear The murmur of this lake to hear.— Shelley.

My punishment is greater than I can bear.— Gen. iv. 13.

9. To gain or win. obsolete

Some think to bear it by speaking a great word.— Francis, Baron Verulam Bacon

She was... found not guilty, through bearing of friends and bribing of the judge.— Hugh Latimer

10. To sustain, or be answerable for, as blame, expense, responsibility, etc.

He shall bear their iniquities.— Is. liii. 11.

Somewhat that will bear your charges.— John Dryden

11. To render or give; to bring forward. “Your testimony bear” John Dryden

12. To carry on, or maintain; to have. “The credit of bearing a part in the conversation.” John Locke

13. To admit or be capable of; that is, to suffer or sustain without violence, injury, or change.

In all criminal cases the most favorable interpretation should be put on words that they can possibly bear.— Jonathan Swift

14. To manage, wield, or direct. “Thus must thou thy body bear.” William Shakespeare Hence: To behave; to conduct.

Hath he borne himself penitently in prison?— William Shakespeare

15. To afford; to be to; to supply with.

His faithful dog shall bear him company.— Alexander Pope

16. To bring forth or produce; to yield; as, to bear apples; to bear children; to bear interest.

Here dwelt the man divine whom Samos bore.— John Dryden

☞ In the passive form of this verb, the best modern usage restricts the past participle born to the sense of brought forth, while borne is used in the other senses of the word. In the active form, borne alone is used as the past participle.

To bear down. (a) To force into a lower place; to carry down; to depress or sink. “His nose,... large as were the others, bore them down into insignificance.” Frederick Marryat (b) To overthrow or crush by force; as, to bear down an enemy. — To bear a hand. (a) To help; to give assistance. (b) Nautical To make haste; to be quick. — To bear in hand, to keep (one) up in expectation, usually by promises never to be realized; to amuse by false pretenses; to delude. obsolete “How you were borne in hand, how crossed.” William Shakespeare — To bear in mind, to remember. — To bear off. (a) To restrain; to keep from approach. (b) Nautical To remove to a distance; to keep clear from rubbing against anything; as, to bear off a blow; to bear off a boat. (c) To gain; to carry off, as a prize. (d) Backgammon To remove from the backgammon board into the home when the position of the piece and the dice provide the proper opportunity; — the goal of the game is to bear off all of one's men before the opponent. — To bear one hard, to owe one a grudge. obsolete “Cæsar doth bear me hard.” William Shakespeare — To bear out. (a) To maintain and support to the end; to defend to the last. “Company only can bear a man out in an ill thing.” Robert South (b) To corroborate; to confirm. — To bear up, to support; to keep from falling or sinking. “Religious hope bears up the mind under sufferings.” Joseph Addison

Synonyms: To uphold; sustain; maintain; support; undergo; suffer; endure; tolerate; carry; convey; transport; waft.

1. To produce, as fruit; to be fruitful, in opposition to barrenness.

This age to blossom, and the next to bear.— John Dryden

2. To suffer, as in carrying a burden.

But man is born to bear.— Alexander Pope

3. To endure with patience; to be patient.

I can not, can not bear.— John Dryden

4. To press; — with on or upon, or against.

These men bear hard on the suspected party.— Joseph Addison

5. To take effect; to have influence or force; as, to bring matters to bear.

6. To relate or refer; — with on or upon; as, how does this bear on the question?

7. To have a certain meaning, intent, or effect.

Her sentence bore that she should stand a certain time upon the platform.— Nathaniel Hawthorne

8. To be situated, as to the point of compass, with respect to something else; as, the land bears N. by E.

To bear against, to approach for attack or seizure; as, a lion bears against his prey. obsolete — To bear away Nautical, to change the course of a ship, and make her run before the wind. — To bear back, to retreat. “Bearing back from the blows of their sable antagonist.” Sir Walter Scott — To bear down upon Nautical, to approach from the windward side; as, the fleet bore down upon the enemy. — To bear in with Nautical, to run or tend toward; as, a ship bears in with the land. — To bear off Nautical, to steer away, as from land. — To bear up. (a) To be supported; to have fortitude; to be firm; not to sink; as, to bear up under afflictions. (b) Nautical To put the helm up (or to windward) and so put the ship before the wind; to bear away. Hamersly. — To bear upon Military, to be pointed or situated so as to affect; to be pointed directly against, or so as to hit (the object); as, to bring or plant guns so as to bear upon a fort or a ship; the artillery bore upon the center. — To bear up to, to tend or move toward; as, to bear up to one another. — To bear with, to endure; to be indulgent to; to forbear to resent, oppose, or punish.

A bier. obsolete Edmund Spenser

Origin: OE. bere, AS. bera; akin to D. beer, OHG. bero, pero, G. bär, Icel. & Sw. björn, and possibly to L. fera wild beast, Gr. φήρ beast, Skr. bhalla bear.

1. Zoology Any species of the genus Ursus, and of the closely allied genera. Bears are plantigrade Carnivora, but they live largely on fruit and insects.

The European brown bear (Ursus arctos), the white polar bear (Ursus maritimus), the grizzly bear (Ursus horribilis), the American black bear, and its variety the cinnamon bear (Ursus Americanus), the Syrian bear (Ursus Syriacus), and the sloth bear, are among the notable species.

2. Zoology An animal which has some resemblance to a bear in form or habits, but no real affinity; as, the woolly bear; ant bear; water bear; sea bear.

3. Astronomy One of two constellations in the northern hemisphere, called respectively the Great Bear and the Lesser Bear, or Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

4. Metaphorically: A brutal, coarse, or morose person.

5. Stock exchange A person who sells stocks or securities for future delivery in expectation of a fall in the market.

☞ The bears and bulls of the Stock Exchange, whose interest it is, the one to depress, and the other to raise, stocks, are said to be so called in allusion to the bear's habit of pulling down, and the bull's of tossing up.

6. Machinery A portable punching machine.

7. Nautical A block covered with coarse matting; — used to scour the deck.

Australian bear. Zoology See Koala. — Bear baiting, the sport of baiting bears with dogs. — Bear caterpillar Zoology, the hairy larva of a moth, esp. of the genus Euprepia. — Bear garden. (a) A place where bears are kept for diversion or fighting. (b) Any place where riotous conduct is common or permitted. Matthew Arnold — Bear leader, one who leads about a performing bear for money; hence, a facetious term for one who takes charge of a young man on his travels.

Stock exchange To endeavor to depress the price of, or prices in; as, to bear a railroad stock; to bear the market.

Origin: AS. bere. See Barley.

Botany Barley; the six-rowed barley or the four-rowed barley, commonly the former (Hordeum hexastichon or Hordeum vulgare). Obs. except in North of Eng. and Scot.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54