bear2

noun

• 1a large, heavy mammal which walks on the soles of its feet, having thick fur and a very short tail. Bears are related to the dog family but have an omnivorous diet.

  • Family Ursidae: several genera and species
• a teddy bear.
• informal a rough, bad-mannered, or uncouth person: if I make a mistake he goes mad with rage—he’s a bear
• a large, heavy, cumbersome man: a lumbering bear of a man
• (the Bear) informal a nickname for Russia.

• 2 Stock Exchange a person who sells shares hoping to buy them back later at a lower price. Often contrasted with bull¹.

  [said to be from a proverb warning against ‘selling the bear's skin before one has caught the bear’]