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bear1

Syllabification: (bear)
Pronunciation: /be(ə)r/
Translate bear | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of bear

verb (past bore /bôr/; past participle borne /bôrn/)

[with object]
  • 1(of a person) carry:he was bearing a tray of brimming glasses the warriors bore lances tipped with iron
  • (of a vehicle or boat) convey (passengers or cargo):steamboats bear the traveler out of Kerrerra Sound
  • have or display as a visible mark or feature:a small boat bearing a white flag many of the papers bore his flamboyant signature
  • be called by (a name or title):he bore the surname Tiller
  • (bear oneself) [with adverbial] carry or conduct oneself in a particular manner:she bore herself with dignity
  • 2support:walls that cannot bear a stone vault
  • take responsibility for:no one likes to bear the responsibility for such decisions the expert’s fee shall be borne by the tenant
  • be able to accept or stand up to:it is doubtful whether either of these distinctions would bear scrutiny
  • 3endure (an ordeal or difficulty):she bore the pain stoically
  • [with modal and negative] manage to tolerate (a situation or experience):she could hardly bear his sarcasm [with infinitive]:I cannot bear to see you hurt
  • (cannot bear someone/something) strongly dislike:I can’t bear caviar
  • 4give birth to (a child):she bore six daughters [with two objects]:his wife had borne him a son
  • (of a tree or plant) produce (fruit or flowers):a squash that bears fruit shaped like cucumbers
  • 5 [no object] turn and proceed in a specified direction:bear left and follow the old road

Phrases

be borne in upon

come to be realized by:the folly of her action was borne in on her with devastating precision

bear arms

  • 1carry firearms.
  • 2wear or display a coat of arms.

bear the brunt of

see brunt.

bear the burden of

suffer the consequences of.

bear fruit

yield positive results:plans for power-sharing may be about to bear fruit

bear someone a grudge

nurture a feeling of resentment against someone.

bear a hand

archaic help in a task or enterprise.

bear someone malice (or ill will)

[with negative] wish someone harm.

bear a resemblance (or similarity) to

resemble.

bear a relation (or relationship) to

[with negative] be logically consistent with:the map didn’t seem to bear any relation to the roads

bear the stamp of

be clearly identifiable with:every work of mine must inevitably bear the stamp of my own personality

bear witness (or testimony) to

testify to:little is left to bear witness to the past greatness of the city

does not bear thinking about

is too terrible to contemplate.

grin and bear it

see grin.

have one's cross to bear

see cross.

Phrasal Verbs

bear away

another way of saying bear off.

bear down

(of a woman in labor) exert downward pressure in order to push the baby out.
put pressure on someone or something:he bore down and allowed the Bears only one more run

bear down on

move quickly toward someone, in a purposeful or an intimidating manner.
take strict measures to deal with:a commitment to bear down on inflation

bear off

Sailing change course away from the wind.
Nautical steer away from something, typically the land.

bear on

be relevant to (something):two kinds of theories that bear on literary studies
[with adverbial] be a burden on (someone):a tax that will bear heavily on poorer households

bear something out

support or confirm something:this assumption is not borne out by any evidence

bear up

remain cheerful in the face of adversity:she’s bearing up remarkably well

bear with

be patient or tolerant with.

Origin:

Old English beran, of Germanic origin; from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit bharati, Greek pherein, and Latin ferre

In the early 17th century, borne and born were simply variant forms of the past participle of bear used interchangeably with no distinction in meaning. By around 1775, however, the present distinction in use had become established. At that time, borne became the standard past participle used in all the senses listed in this dictionary entry, e.g., she has borne you another son, the findings have been borne out, and so on. Born became restricted to just one very common use (which remains the case today), in the passive, without by, as the standard, neutral way to refer to birth: she was born in 1965, he was born lucky, or I was born and bred in Boston.

Spelling help

The different forms of this verb are: (bears, bearing; the past tense is bore and the past participle is borne).

Do not confuse bear with bare. Bear means 'carry' (he was bearing a tray of food) or 'put up with' whereas bare is an adjective that means 'naked' or a verb meaning 'uncover, reveal' (he bared his chest).

bear in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of bear in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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