bear2

noun

• 1a large, heavy, mammal that walks on the soles of its feet, with thick fur and a very short tail. Bears are related to the dog family, but most species are omnivorous.

  • Family Ursidae: several genera and species
• a teddy bear.
• informal a rough, unmannerly, or uncouth person.
• a large, heavy, cumbersome man:a lumbering bear of a man
• (the Bear) informal a nickname for Russia.
• (the Bear) the constellation Ursa Major or Ursa Minor.

• 2 Stock Market a person who forecasts that prices of stocks or commodities will fall, especially a person who sells shares hoping to buy them back later at a lower price: [as modifier]:bear marketsOften contrasted with bull¹ (sense 2 of the noun).

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