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bare

Pronunciation: /bɛː/

Translate bare | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of bare

adjective

  • 1(of a person or part of the body) not clothed or covered:he was bare from the waist up she padded in bare feet towards the door
  • without the appropriate, usual, or natural covering:leaf fall had left the trees bare bare floorboards
  • without the appropriate or usual contents:a bare cell with just a mattress
  • (bare of) devoid of; without: the interior was bare of plaster
  • 2without addition; basic and simple:he outlined the bare essentials of the story
  • [attributive] only just sufficient:the bare minimum of furniture
  • [attributive] surprisingly small in number or amount:all you need to get started with this program is a bare 10K bytes of memory

verb

[with object]
  • uncover (a part of the body or other thing) and expose it to view:he bared his chest to show his scar

Phrases

bare all

take off all of one’s clothes and display oneself to others: she bared all for Playboy in 2005

the bare bones

the basic facts about something, without any detail:the bare bones of the plot
the very lowest level of resources necessary:his squad is already down to the bare bones and has now been hit by a flu bug

bare one's fangs

(of an animal) bare its teeth aggressively:the snake reared up before her, baring its fangs

bare one's soul

reveal one’s innermost secrets and feelings to someone: one feels vulnerable in baring one’s soul to another

bare one's teeth

show one’s teeth, typically when angry: he bared his teeth in a grimace

with one's bare hands

without using tools or weapons: he was capable of killing a man with his bare hands

Derivatives

bareness

noun

Origin:

Old English bær (noun), barian (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch baar

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).

bare in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of bare in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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