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bring

Pronunciation: /brɪŋ/

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

verb (past and past participle brought /brɔːt/)

[with object]
  • 1take or go with (someone or something) to a place:she brought Luke home from hospital [with two objects]:Liz brought her a glass of water
  • cause (someone or something) to come to a place:what brings you here? a felony case brought before a jury figurativehis inner confidence has brought him through his ordeal
  • (bring someone in) involve (someone) in a particular activity:he has brought in a consultancy company
  • cause someone to receive (an amount of money) as income or profit:two important Chippendale lots brought £10,000 each [with two objects]:five more novels brought him £150,000
  • cause (someone or something) to move in a particular direction:he brought his hands out of his pockets heavy rain brought down the ceiling
  • cause (something):the bad weather brought famine
  • 2cause (someone or something) to be in a particular state or condition:an economic policy that would have brought the country to bankruptcy I’ll give you an aspirin to bring down your temperature
  • 3initiate (legal action) against someone:riot and conspiracy charges should be brought against them
  • 4 [usually with negative] (bring oneself to do something) force oneself to do something unpleasant:she could not bring herself to mention it

Phrases

bring home the bacon

see bacon.

bring something home to

see home.

bring the house down

make an audience laugh or applaud very enthusiastically: he could bring the house down with his dry humour

bring it on

informal used to express confidence in meeting a challenge.

bring something to bear

  • 1exert influence or pressure so as to achieve a particular result:they brought pressure to bear on him to resign she had reservations about how much influence she could bring to bear
  • 2aim a weapon:he brought his rifle to bear on a distant target

bring someone to book

see book.

bring something to light

see light1.

bring someone/thing to mind

cause one to remember or think of someone or something:all that marble brought to mind a mausoleum

bring something to pass

chiefly literary cause something to happen: any man must at some point question whether it is chance or fate that brings things to pass

bring something to the table (or party)

contribute something of value to a discussion, project, etc.: consultants who can bring strategic thinking to the table

what brings you here?

for what reason have you come here?:so what brings you here at this time of night?

Phrasal Verbs

bring something about

  • 1cause something to happen: she brought about a revolution in psychoanalysis
  • 2cause a ship to head in a different direction: he brought the ship about in a stylish tack

bring something back

reintroduce something:bringing back capital punishment would solve nothing
cause something to return:the smell of the tiny church brought back every memory of my childhood

bring someone down

cause someone to lose power:the vote will not bring down the government
cause someone to fall over, especially by tackling them during a football or rugby match: Harris was brought down by Palmer on the edge of the box
make someone unhappy: she was in such a good mood I couldn’t bear to bring her down

bring someone/thing down

cause someone or something to fall over by shooting them: too bad he couldn’t bring the bear down with a clean shot

bring something forth

archaic give birth to something: why does Elsbeth not bring forth a child?

bring something forward

  • 1move a meeting or event to an earlier date or time: the congress has been brought forward by a year
  • 2 (often as adjective brought forward) (in bookkeeping) transfer a total sum from the bottom of one page to the top of the next: a profit and loss balance brought forward of £5,000,000
  • 3propose a plan or idea for consideration: I realize that when I bring forward proposals they will have to be judged on their merits

bring something in

  • 1introduce a new law or product:Congress brought in reforms to prevent abuse of presidential power
  • 2(of a jury) give a decision in court:the jury brought in a unanimous verdict

bring someone off

  • 1rescue someone from a ship in difficulties: ‘Any men been brought off yet?’ Joe asked one of the fishermen on the beach
  • 2 vulgar slang give someone or oneself an orgasm.

bring something off

achieve something successfully:a good omelette is very hard to bring off

bring someone on

encourage someone who is learning something to develop or improve: Mr Edom thought well of him, and was bringing him on

bring something on

  • 1cause something, typically something unpleasant, to occur:ulcers are not brought on by a rich diet
  • (bring something on/upon) be responsible for something unpleasant that happens to (oneself or someone else):he’s brought it upon himself—he’s not a victim
  • 2(of the weather) promote the growth of crops.

bring someone out

  • 1encourage someone to feel more confident:she needs friends to bring her out of herself
  • 2British cause someone to go on strike: protest aimed at bringing out the miners who were still at work

bring something out

  • 1produce and launch a new product or publication:the band are bringing out a video
  • 2make something more evident; emphasize something:the shawl brings out the colour of your eyes

bring someone round (or US around)

  • 1 (also bring someone to) restore someone to consciousness: she administered artificial respiration and brought him round
  • 2persuade someone to agree to something: she’s not keen, but I think I can bring her round

bring something to

cause a boat to stop, especially by turning into the wind.

bring up

(chiefly of a ship) come to a stop.

bring someone up

look after a child until it is an adult: she was partly brought up by her maternal grandparents
(be brought up) be taught as a child to adopt particular behaviour or attitudes:he had been brought up to believe that marriage was forever

bring something up

  • 1vomit something: fortunately I brought up the poison
  • 2raise a matter for discussion or consideration:she tried repeatedly to bring up the subject of money

Derivatives

bringer

noun

Origin:

Old English bringan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch brengen and German bringen

bring in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of bring in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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