▪ I. bear, n.1
(bɛə(r))
Forms: 1 bera, 2–7 bere, (3 beore, ? bore, 4 beeyr, 4–5 beere, 5 barre, beer, 6 Sc. beir, 6–7 beare, 7 bare), 7– bear.
[OE. bera = OHG. bero, pero, MHG. ber, mod.G. bär, MDu. bere, Du. beer:—OTeut. *beron-. The ON. björn:—*bern-oz seems to be an extended form. Supposed by Fick to be cogn. with L. ferus wild, as if ‘the wild beast’ of northern nations.]
I. 1. a. A heavily-built, thick-furred plantigrade quadruped, of the genus Ursus; belonging to the Carnivora, but having teeth partly adapted to a vegetable diet.
The best-known species are the Brown Bear of Europe (U. arctos), the White or Polar Bear (U. maritimus), the Grizzly Bear (U. horribilis or ferox) and Black Bear (U. Americanus) of North America, and the Syrian Bear (U. Syriacus), mentioned in the Bible; there are remains of fossil species, some larger than any now known.
| c 1000 ælfric On O.T. in Sweet Reader 66 Dauid..ᵹewylde ðone w{iacu}ldan beran. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 211 Ech man is efned to þe deore þe he nimeð after geres..sum bere, sum leun. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. liii. (1495) 813 Whan beeyrs ben syke they seke amptes and deuoure them. Ibid. cxii. 854 The beer can wonderly stye vpon trees. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. x, Thus were the grehondes a-gast of the gryme bere. 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. iii. xxvii, Dauid I saw slay baith lyoun and beir. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. i. 29, I would..Plucke the yong sucking Cubs from the she Beare. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia ii. 24 Their attire is the skinnes of Beares. 1733 Pope Horace' Sat. ii. i. 87 Tis a Bear's talent not to kick but hug. 1781 Pennant Hist. Quadrup. II. ii. §ii. xx. 286 The black bears of America form a very distinct variety. 1860 Gosse Rom. Nat. Hist. 62 The white bear seated on a solitary iceberg in the Polar Sea. c 1880 Cassell's Nat. Hist. II. 167 The American Black Bear. Ursus americanus. |
b. in proverbial phrases, referring to the habits of bears, and to the obsolete sport of bear-baiting.
are you there with your bears? = ‘Are you there again, or at it again?’ is explained by Joe Miller as the exclamation of a man who, not liking a sermon he had heard on Elisha and the bears, went next Sunday to another church, only to find the same preacher and the same discourse.
like a bear with a sore head and similar phrases: used with reference to bad-tempered behaviour.
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 17 With as good will as a beare goth to the stake. Ibid. 54 As handsomly as a beare picketh muscles. 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet (1844) 16 Swarmd..like beares to a honie pot. 1601 Dent Pathw. Heauen 62 To put his finger into the Lions mouth, and..take the Beare by the tooth. 1602 W. Fulbecke 1st Pt. Parall. 28 A man should deuide honie with a Beare. 1736 Bailey s.v., You dare as well take a Bear by the Tooth, That is, You dare not attempt it. 1742 Richardson Pamela III. 335 O ho, Nephew! are you thereabouts with your Bears? 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T. s.v. Grumble, He grumbled like a bear with a sore ear. 1820 Scott Abbot xv, ‘Marry come up—are you there with your Bears?’ muttered the Dragon. 1830 Marryat King's Own xxvi, As savage as a bear with a sore head. 1831 Gen. Thompson Exerc. (1842) I. 485 Not fit to carry garbage to a bear. 1858 Sat. Rev. 7 Aug. 139 You must not sell the skin till you have shot the bear [cf. II]. 1922 S. Weyman Ovington's Bank v. 49 He's like a bear with a sore head. |
c. fig. Also
spec., Russia.
| c 1230 Ancr. R. 202 Þe Bore [? bere, beore] of heui Slouhðe haueð þeos hweolpes. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 58 Þe bere of glotonie romis a bout..for to fille þe wombe. 1591 Spenser Ruines Time 66 What nowe is of th' Assyrian Lyonesse?.. What of the Persian Beares outragiousnesse? [1794 W. B. Stevens Jrnl. 15 Dec. (1965) ii. 214 Those Russian Bears after having devoured the Unhappy Poles are..to direct their fell tusks against France.] 1804 M. Wilmot Let. 24 July in Londonderry & Hyde Russ. Jrnls. (1934) i. 147 Take the two Nations..and trust me the Bears would triumph. 1831 T. Campbell Wks. (1907) 220 France turns from her abandoned friends afresh, And soothes the Bear that prowls for patriot flesh. 1853 Punch XXIV. 222 We recommend the Bear to hug himself as comfortably as he likes, in his own security, but we would advise him to keep his paws off from Turkey. 1939 W. S. Churchill Into Battle (1941) 145 The left paw of the Bear bars Germany from the Black Sea. 1967 Observer 15 Jan. 32/8 When he allowed himself to be flown back to Moscow..he was consciously putting his head in the Bear's mouth. |
d. A child's toy,
esp. Teddy
bear.
| 1907 [see Teddy]. 1928 A. A. Milne House at Pooh Corner x. 178 In that enchanted place on the top of the Forest a little boy and his Bear will always be playing. |
e. slang (
orig. and chiefly
U.S.). A policeman;
ellipt. for
Smokey Bear 2. Freq.
attrib. or in
phr.: see also
feed the bears s.v. feed v. 4 b.
| 1975 Atlantic Monthly May 42/1 There's a four-wheeler coming up fast behind me, might be a Bear wants to give us some green stamps. 1975 S9 Oct. 32/2 Bear's Den, any police station. 1975 Washington Post 16 Nov. (Parade Suppl.) 18/4 All those CB ‘bear reports’ were actually helping hold speeds down. 1976 Daily News (N.Y.) (CB & Sound Suppl.) 11 June 2/1 Bear Cave, police station. 1976 CB Mag. June 40/3 ‘The bear's pulling somebody off there at 74,’ reported someone else. 1977 Daily Province (Victoria, B.C.) 29 Sept. 7/1 The Bear in the Air will be staying up there. |
2. fig. A rough, unmannerly, or uncouth person.
to play the bear: to behave rudely and roughly;
const. with (
colloq.): to play the deuce with, inflict great damage upon (?
obs.). Also in
obs. colloquial sense: see
quot. 1832.
| 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 473/1 When we haue so turned all order vpsidowne..there is nothing but..playing the beare amongst vs. 1751 Chesterfield Lett. III. cclxii. 202 The French people of learning..are not bears as most of ours are. 1832 Legends Lond. II. 247 When I was the youthful Bear—as the disciple of a Private Tutor is called at Oxford. 1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northampt. Words I. 38 A market-gardener says, ‘A wet Saturday plays the bear with us’; i.e. keeps our customers away, and injures our goods. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 51 This great soldier..was no better than a Low Dutch bear. 1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robb. under Arms II. ii. 26 Chaps that have got something on their minds can't stand idleness, it plays the bear with them. 1891 J. M. Dixon Dict. Idiom. Phr. s.v., The last storm has played the bear with my crops. |
3. Astr. Name given to two constellations in the northern hemisphere known respectively as the ‘Great Bear,’ and ‘Lesser Bear.’
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. viii. xxxv, Alwey þoo sterres wyndeþ and turneþ rounde aboute þat lyne, þat is calde Axis, as a bere aboute þe stake. And þerfore þat cercle is clepid þe more bear. 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 263 The moste northerly constellation is the lesser Beare..Nigh vnto it is the greater Beare. 1632 Milton Penseroso 85 Where I may oft outwatch the Bear. 1868 Lockyer Heavens (ed. 3) 320 Between the Great Bear and Cassiopeia is the Little Bear. |
4. In New South Wales, the local name of the
Phaseolarctos, a Marsupial animal allied to the Phalangers, called by the natives
Koala or ‘Biter.’
| 1827 [see koala]. 1847 Carpenter Zool. §314 By the colonists usually termed the native Bear or Monkey. |
5. sea-bear: popular name of a species of seal.
| 1847 Carpenter Zool. §202 Several species of Seal are known under the names of Sea-Lion, Sea-Bear, etc. 1883 Flower in Glasgow Weekly Her. 14 July 8/1. |
6. A rough mat for wiping boots on; a block covered with shaggy matting, used for scrubbing the decks of vessels.
| 1795 J. Aikin Manchester 349 The making (by blindfolk) of..white and tarred bears, foot-cloths, etc. 1805 D. Johnston Serm. for Blind 20 Rope-bears for cleaning the feet at our doors. |
7. a. A machine for punching holes.
| 1869 E. J. Reed Ship Build. xx. 446 The holes which come in the plate-edges are usually punched by a bear. |
b. Other technical uses: see
quot.| 1864 Reader No. 85. 203/3 A machine called the bear, which sheltered a number of archers. 1871 Trans. Amer. Inst. Min. Engineers I. 112 Metallic iron, not finding heat enough in a lead furnace..congeals in the hearth, and forms what smelters term ‘sows,’ ‘bears,’ ‘horses.’ |
II. 8. Stock Exchange. A speculator for a fall;
i.e. one who sells stock for delivery at a future date, in the expectation that meanwhile prices will fall, and he will be able to buy in at a lower rate what he has contracted to deliver at a higher.
Formerly, The stock so contracted to be delivered, in the phrase ‘to buy’ or ‘sell the bear;’ see b.
[As applied to stock thus sold,
bear appears early in 18th c., and was common at the time of the South Sea Bubble. The term ‘bearskin jobber,’ then applied to the dealer now called the ‘bear,’ makes it probable that the original phrase was ‘sell the bearskin,’ and that it originated in the well-known proverb, ‘to sell the bear's skin before one has caught the bear.’ The associated
bull appears somewhat later and was perhaps suggested by
bear.]
| a. 1719 Anat. Change Alley in N. & Q. 1876 Ser. v. VI. 118 [Those who buy Exchange Alley Bargains are styled] buyers of Bear-skins. 1726 De Foe Hist. Devil (1822) 238 Every secret cheat, every bear-skin jobber. |
| b. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 38 ¶3 Being at that General Mart of Stock-Jobbers called Jonathans..he bought the bear of another officer. Ibid. ¶5, I fear the Word Bear is hardly to be understood among the polite People; but I take the meaning to be, That one who ensures a Real Value upon an Imaginary Thing, is said to sell a Bear. 1714 C. Johnson Country Lasses i. i, Instead of changing honest staple for Gold and Silver, you deal in Bears and Bulls. 1720 Pope Inscr. Punch Bowl in South-Sea Year (Globe ed.) 490 Come fill the South Sea goblet full; The gods shall of our stock take care: Europa pleased accepts the bull, And Jove with joy puts off the bear. 1721 Cibber Refusal Wks. 1754 I. 41 (from end), And all this out of Change-Alley? Every Shilling, Sir, all out of Stocks, Tuts, Bulls, Rams, Bears, and Bubbles. 1731 Bailey, To sell a Bear [among Stock-jobbers], to sell what one hath not. |
| c. 1744 Lond. Mag. 86 These noisy Devotees were false ones, and in Fact were only Bulls and Bears. 1762 Gentl. Mag. 18 In contracts for time, he who contracts to sell is called the bear. 1865 Standard 23 Feb., The ‘bear’ party at the Paris Bourse plucked up courage to-day. 1881 Chicago Times 30 Apr., The bears made a strong fight against an advance. |
III. Comb. 9. General relations, chiefly
attrib., as
bear-dance,
bear-fat,
bear-fight,
bear-fur,
bear-hide,
bear-hunt,
bear-kin,
bear-meat,
bear-whelp;
bear-furred adj.| c 1230 Ancr. R. 202 Þes laste bore hweolp is grimmest of alle. Ibid. 296 Þe deouel is beorekunnes. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iv. i. 96 But if you hunt these Beare-whelpes, then beware: The Dam will wake. 1780 W. Fleming in N. D. Mereness Trav. Amer. Col. (1916) 640 Bear fat is preserved sweet and pure. 1803 Lit. Mag. (Philadelphia) Oct. 64 A grand bear hunt is proposed on the third Wednesday in October. 1825 Scott Betrothed (1860) 349 Stretch thyself on the bear-hide, and sleep. 1845 Mrs. Kirkland Western Clearings 125 They were going to have a bear-hunt out there. 1856 Kane Arct. Exp. II. 311 Bear-meat, seal, walrus. 1859 Masson Milton I. iv. 113 Dancings, bear-fights, cock-fights, etc. 1920 D. H. Lawrence Lost Girl i. 11 Winter coats..flourished their bear-fur cuffs. 1926 E. Sitwell Elegy on Dead Fashion 3 Nor walk within vast bear-furred woods. |
10. Special combinations:
bear animalcule, a microscopic animal of the group
Tardigrada, a water-bear;
† bear-ape, obsolete name of an American ape (see
quot.);
bear-bait = bear-baiting;
bear-brat, contemptuous epithet
= bear's cub;
bear-bug, variant of bug-bear;
† bear-claw (
= bear's-breech);
bear-covering vbl. n. (see
quot. 1930);
bear dance, a kind of dance practised by American Indians;
bear-dog, one used in hunting or baiting bears;
† bear-fell, a bear-skin;
bear-fight fig., a riotous scuffle; a humorous name for a social gathering; hence as
v. intr., to behave rowdily;
bear-garden, a place originally set apart for the baiting of bears, and used for the exhibition of other rough sports,
fig. a scene of strife and tumult;
bear-grass U.S., one of various species of Yucca (
esp. Yucca filamentosa), or of some similar plants;
bear-hound (
= bear-dog);
bear-lead v. trans., to act as bear-leader or travelling tutor to (a youth); to conduct or lead; hence, to supervise the conduct of, arrange the affairs of; hence
bear-leading vbl. n. and
ppl. adj.;
bear-leader, formerly a ludicrous name for a travelling tutor,
cf. sense 2 above; also, a captor, custodian;
bear oak U.S., the black scrub-oak,
Quercus ilicifolia;
bear-pit, a sunken enclosure in which bears are kept for exhibition;
bear-play, rough tumultuous behaviour;
bear('s)-breech, popular name of the genus
Acanthus, Brank-ursine;
bear's-ear, popular name of the
auricula (sense 3);
bear's-ear sanicle, herbalists' name of
Cortusa matthioli;
bear's-garlic, popular name of
Allium Ursinum or Ramsons;
bear's-grease, the fat of the bear, used
esp. in medical and cosmetic preparations;
bear's-muck (see
quot.);
Bear State U.S., the state of Arkansas (
occas. also California);
bear-wallow U.S., a hollow in the ground attributed to the wallowing of bears;
bear-warden = bear-ward;
† bear-wolf, a vigorous term of opprobrium;
† bear-worm, obsolete name of a hairy caterpillar, or ‘woolly-bear.’
Also
bear-baiting, -berry, -foot, -skin,
-ward.
| 1889 Cent. Dict. s.v. Arctisca, *Bear-animalcules. |
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 15 Of the *Bear-Ape Arctopithecus. His belly hangeth very low, his head and face like unto a childs. |
| c 1590 in Chetham Misc. V, Maigames, rushbearings, *bearebaites. |
| 1583 Stanyhurst Epitaphs 159 Thee *bearbrat boucher thy corps with villenye mangled. |
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 194 They put on blacke scrafs, and go like *beare buggis. |
| 1589 Fleming Virg. Eclog. iii. 8 Compassed about the eares with tender *beare-claw [leaues]. |
| 1929 Observer 17 Nov. 4/2 ‘*Bear-covering’..and the lowering of the New York discount rate..were..partly responsible for this..partial recovery. 1930 M. Clark Home Trade 271 On the other hand, the bear who does not see prices fall in accordance with his hopes may also have to cut his loss and buy the shares he has already sold when not in possession of them at the best price possible. He enters the market as a buyer and by his buying sends up the price of the securities in which he is dealing. This buying is known as ‘bear covering’. 1969 Daily Tel. 5 Mar. 4/1 The share-price, helped also by a measure of bear-covering, rose 1s 6d. |
| a 1820 in Western Rev. II. 161 There are a number of other [Indian] dances, such as the *bear dance, the Turkey dance. |
| 1673 Lond. Gaz. No. 763/4 A Blew brinded *Bear Dog of about three quarters old. |
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 2430 Wiþ hem boþe *bere felles þei bere in here armes. |
| 1855 W. G. Simms Forayers xxxii. 373 It'll be a *bear fight first, I tell you—tooth and nail! 1861 C. M. Yonge Stokesley Secret xiii. 209 ‘Oh, Papa, may we drink tea with you?’.. ‘Yes, to be sure, if you won't make a bear fight..for your uncle.’ 1873 ― Pillars of House IV. xlvi. 298, I shall..come back at dark when the bear fight is over. 1892 Daily News 23 Feb. 4/8 Did she bear-fight and play practical jokes on the Lord Admiral? 1900 Ibid. 24 Oct. 10/2 A don called Bedmynster used to bearfight in hall. |
| 1596 J. Norden Progr. Pietie (1847) 177 And go to the..*bear-gardens..where they lose their time..and offend the laws..of her majesty. 1687 Settle Refl. Dryden's Plays 33 Our Beargarden Duellers. 1743 Wesley in Wks. 1782 I. 439 One of them having been a prize-fighter at the bear-garden. 1803 Bristed Pedest. Tour II. 543 Squabbles and boxings..rendering the place more like a bear-garden than a hall of instruction. |
| 1750 T. Walker Jrnl. 12 Apr. in J. S. Johnstone First Explor. Kentucky (1898), On the Banks is some *Bear-Grass. 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., Bear-grass 2. a bunch-grass, Stipa setigera, ranging from the mountains of California, where it is considered valuable, to Oregon and Texas. |
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. iii. i. 80 The Wolfhounds shall fall suppressed, the *Bearhounds, the Falconry. |
| 1891 C. Dunstan Quita i. i, I do call it hard..to condemn me to *bear-lead a savage. 1898 Daily News 31 Aug. 5/5 It was he who bear-led Admiral Avellane and his officers. a 1935 T. E. Lawrence Mint (1955) iii. xi. 188 The Adjutant bear-led poor enduring Dolly down the three interminable lanes of us dressed ham⁓bones. 1968 Listener 21 Mar. 381/1 The Establishment, bear-led by the Hearst Press, had decided that this turbulent man..must..go. |
| 1749 H. Walpole Lett. H. Mann 202 (1834) II. 283 She takes me for his *bear-leader, his travelling governor. 1794 W. Godwin Caleb Williams III. vi. 114 My bear-leaders were considerably surprised with my firmness. 1846 Thackeray Snobs of England in Punch 18 Apr. 166/1 They pounced upon the stray nobility, and seized young lords travelling with their bear leaders. 1955 J. Masters Coromandel! ii. 87 She's picked up dancers and bearleaders and fiddlers and bullies. |
| 1901 ‘Linesman’ Words Eyewitness (1902) 289 A guard of honour, and a *bear-leading general officer to see the creature safely and comfortably down to the sea. 1928 Daily Tel. 7 Aug. 6/5 There are..more applicants for what used to be called ‘bear-leading’ than there are bears to be led. |
| 1810 in D.A.E., Bear oak. 1832 D. J. Browne Sylva Amer. 263 This diminutive species is known in the Northern and Middle States by the name of *Bear Oak. |
| 1849 F. L. Mortimer Near Home 297 In the city [sc. Berne] there is a *bear pit with three fat lazy living bears. 1862 F. Locker London Lyrics 66 (title) The Bear Pit at the Zoological Gardens. |
| 1883 Pall Mall G. 14 June, That the university would not degrade itself in the eyes of the visitors by *bear-play. |
| 1565 Golding Ovid's Met. xiii. (1593) 315 A traile of flowres of *bearbrich. 1736 Bailey Househ. Dict. 71 Bears breech or Brank Ursine, is an herb of singular use in physick, for..the gout and cramp. |
| 1597 Gerard Herball ii. cclxii. 640 There be diuers sorts of Mountaine Cowslips, or *Beares eares. 1671 Grew Anat. Plants i. (1682) 31 Sometimes single, as in Beares-Ears. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Ail d'ours, Ramsons..*Beares garlicke. 1863 Prior Plant-n. 17 Bear's-garlick, so called, says Tabernæmontanus, quia ursi eo delectantur. |
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 838 And evry tole in *beres grees defoule. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 103 Wild Rose leaues reduced into a liniment with Beares grease. 1843 Thackeray Irish Sk.-bk. (1863) 286 A tuft on the chin may be had at a small expense of bear's grease, by persons of a proper age. |
| 1846 Clarke in Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VII. ii. 517 The ‘dead peat,’ commonly called ‘*bear's muck.’ |
| 1848 Bartlett Dict. Amer. 392, I once asked a Western man if Arkansas abounded in bears, that it should be designated as the ‘*Bear State’. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 658 Arkansas is called the Bear State, though..the name is pronounced Bar State... California enjoys the same title. |
| 1766 in Amer. Speech (1940) XV. 155/1 Two White Oaks Saplings by the *Bear Wallow Drains. 1787 Ibid., Standing by two Ironwood trees nigh a bear wallow. 1891 M. E. Ryan Pagan of Alleghanies v. 62 He rode..on through the columns of white-oak, whose feet are caressed by feathers and fern in the long, desolate ‘bear-wallow’. |
| 1884 Besant in Contemp. Rev. Mar. 343 The *bear-warden's fiddle. |
| 1545 Brinklow Complaynt (1874) 89 Turne your chauntries and your obbetes from the profite of these *berewolues whelpes. |
| 1608 Topsell Serpents 667 These Caterpillers..by reason of their roughnesse and ruggednesse, some call them *Bear-worms. |
Add:
[III.] [10.] bear market Stock Exchange, a market characterized by the falling price of stock, etc. (see sense 8);
opp. to
bull market s.v. *
bull n.1 11.
| 1903 H. I. Smith Financial Dict. 63 *Bear market, a speculative term which signifies a declining market; in other words, that the tendency of prices is downward. 1926 H. J. Wolf Stud. Stock Speculation II. 25 If the above mentioned ‘bear’ will apply his remarks to a bear market, instead of a bull market, we are in agreement. 1971 H. D. Berman Stock Exchange (ed. 6) xiii. 127 It is the funds that are depressed, such as the capital trusts at the end of a bear market, which should be bought. 1986 What Investment July 15/3 Major bear markets of the past have always been caused by worldwide events. |
▸
colloq. (
orig. and chiefly
U.S.).
to be a bear: to be someone who is exceptionally gifted, adept, or persistent;
spec. (
freq. with
for) to be someone who is devoted to or intent upon a given pursuit or activity.
| 1908H. C. Fisher in San Francisco Examiner 3 Dec. 11 (cartoon caption) I'm a bear at this stuff. 1913 Sat. Evening Post 31 May 12 I'll bet he's a bear among the women. 1930 W. R. Burnett Iron Man iv. iii. 129 She's a bear for looks... I wish I had a wife like that. 1948 I. Wolfert Act of Love lv. 514 He's a bear on running the ball. 1980 N.Y. Daily News 18 Dec. 41 Even his severest critics agree that Haig has an excellent mind, is a bear for work and is a disciplined and organized leader of men. 2001 Los Angeles Times (Electronic ed.) 7 Sept. With an encyclopedic knowledge of band trivia and minutiae.., Chris is such a bear for authenticity in dress and presentation that he tends to drive his bandmates a little crazy. |
▸
orig. and chiefly
U.S. Something notable or exceptional,
esp. (in later use) something particularly arduous or fraught with difficulty. Freq. in
(to be) a bear of a——.
| 1910T. A. Dorgan in N.Y. Evening Jrnl. 19 Jan. 12 It will be a bear of a fight. 1910T. A. Dorgan in N.Y. Evening Jrnl. 3 Mar. 16 That's the funniest [joke] I ever heard... That's a bear. 1926 W. Rogers Autobiogr. (1949) xi. 123 You unconsciously paid me a Bear of a Compliment. 1958 ‘P. O'Connor’ Black Tiger at Le Mans (1959) v. 35 But be careful. This track is a bear. 1984 M. Skinner Red Flag vi. 97 It's going to be a real bear to do your job and keep alive. 1989 New Yorker 8 May 48/3 Why don't you tell those two about that game? That sounded like a bear. 2002 N.Y. Times (Electronic ed.) 15 Dec. This is a bear of a job. It's not for everyone. |
▸
colloq. (
orig. and chiefly
U.S.).
does a bear shit in the woods? and (usually euphemistic) variants: used ironically as a response to a question whose answer is felt to be blatantly obvious; ‘yes’, ‘of course’.
Cf. is the Pope (a) Catholic? at
pope n.1 Phrases.
| 1961 Washington Post 9 Sept. a26/3 Asked..if he would consider continuing as manager next season, Harris answered rhetorically, ‘Does a bear live in the woods?’ 1966 M. Braly It's Cold out There 40 ‘You're telling me you're rooting?’ ‘Does a bear crap in the woods?’ 1978 A. Maupin Tales of City i. 3 ‘Connie..you're single?’.. ‘A bear shit in the woods?’ 1992 C. McCarthy All Pretty Horses (1993) i. 66 They sat their horses and looked down at him. Can you ride or not? said Rawlins. Does a bear shit in the woods? Hell yes I can ride. I was ridin when I fell off. 2000 C. Thayer Certain Slant of Light viii. 75 ‘Did you spin the wool for this sweater?’ Elaine asks. ‘Does the bear shit in the woods? Is the pope Catholic? Only kind of wool that's any good.’ |
▸ Originally and chiefly among homosexual men: a large, hirsute homosexual or bisexual man.
| 1989Changes to publicly Accessible Mailing Lists in news.lists (Usenet newsgroup) 22 July Mail.bears is a mailing list for gay and bisexual males who are bears themselves and for those who enjoy the company of bears. 1991 Gay Times Mar. 90/4 (advt.) Girth & Mirth. Social group for the Stocky, Heavy, Chubbies, Bears & friends. 2004 Washington Post (Electronic ed.) 13 Mar. c1 Five or 10 years ago, when news photographers covered gay rights gatherings, they went for the drag queens, the leather bears, the lesbians with multiple tattoos. |
▸
bear raid n. Stock Market a speculative attempt to profit from a fall in the price of a stock, or to cause the price to fall in order to make a profit.
| 1870 J. K. Medbery Men & Mysteries of Wall St. iii. 31 A grave-faced man..is spreading the news of this fierce ‘*bear’ raid, by which Central has been hammered down five per cent. 1938 H. V. Hodson Slump & Recovery viii. 241 The memorandum argued that the reduction of stocks and the gradual liquidation of the private international pool were bringing the chance of a corner in tin, or of a ‘bear raid’ against it, close to reality. 1993 Independent on Sunday 24 Oct. (Business section) 2/3 His reaction to the bear raids that have hurt Betterware's share price is to bring forward the group's results to this Thursday. |
▸
bear raider n. Stock Market an investor who initiates or participates in a bear raid.
| 1887 N.Y. Times 30 July 5/2 The stock market yesterday seemed on a dead run for the demnition bow-wows. Nobody had any fun but the *bear raiders; they had not only fun but profits. 1930 Economist 11 Oct. 674/1 Despite the authorities' threat of disciplinary measures against bear raiders, further selling depresses prices. 2003 Financial Times (Nexis) 1 Feb. (Saturday London ed.) 16 When the FTSE 100 briefly dipped below 3,400 mark on Wednesday, hedge funds and bear raiders had a clear target to aim at. |
▸
bear squeeze n. (a) a firm clasp or embrace, a bear-hug (
rare);
(b) Stock Market the financial pressure experienced by ‘bear’ speculators when prices rise;
spec. the necessity of covering short sales at a loss (
cf. squeeze n. 1d).
| 1845 Amer. Rev. Oct. 367/1 His eye, a whitey-gray, was cordial enough in its expression, and so was the *bear-squeeze of his huge hand. 1900 N.Y. Times 20 Aug. (Financial Rev. Suppl.) 1/2 The only interesting episode they [sc. the stock markets] gave us last week was a bear squeeze in Tintos. Arbitragists estimate there are still 30,000 shares oversold in British markets alone. 2002 Money Marketing (Nexis) 31 Oct. 28 There are many examples of effective bear squeezes taking place—including one where a particularly wily operator succeeded in purchasing more than the issued share capital of a small mining company. |
▪ II. bear, n.2 (
bɪə(r))
Forms: 1–9
bere, 6
beir, 6–8
beare,
beer, 7
bar, 8–
bear.
[OE. bęre (masc.):— OTeut. *bariz- (neut.), found in Gothic in the derivative barizeins, adj. ‘made of barley.’ The thematic z of OTeut. was mistaken for the inflexional z of the nom. masc., and the noun became masc. in OE. and in ON. bar-r: cf. awe.] 1. Barley: the original English name, in later times retained only in the north, and
esp. in Scotland; hence
spec. applied to the coarse variety (
Hordeum hexastichon or
tetrastichon), with six (or four) rows of grain in its ear, till lately chiefly cultivated in the north; also distinguished as
bear-barley and
bigg.
knocked bear: pounded barley.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John vi. 9 Fife hlafas bero and tuoeᵹe fisces. c 975 Rushw. G. ibid., Fif hlafas of bere. c 1000 ælfric Gram. (Z.) 31 Ordeum, bere. a 1300 Cursor M. 13506 Tua fisches and fiue laues o bere. 1340 Ayenb. 141 Þe asse of þe melle..ase bleþeliche berþ bere ase huete. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vii. x. 521 A Boll of Bere for awcht or ten..sawld wes þen. c 1570 Leg. Bp. S. Andr. in Scot. Poems 16th C. II. 324 To crave there debtis; For kaill, caudle, and knocked beir. 1570 Holinshed Scot. Chron. (1806) I. 8 Abundance of barleie which the Scots call beir. 1772 Pennant Tours Scotl. (1774) 245 Thatched with the Straw of bear pulled up by the roots. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 152 Bear-barley or big, which consists of four rows in the ear. 1820 Scott Monast. 1 The feuars raised tolerable bear. |
2. attrib., as in
bear-awns,
bear-bannock,
bear-bread,
bear-corn,
bear-flour,
bear-meal;
bear-seed, the seed or sowing (
obs.) of bear. See also bear-bine; and
cf. barn,
barton.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke iii. 17 Clænseð ber-ern vel bere-flor his. c 1550 Description of Pedder Coffeis (Bann. MS.), And beir bonnokis with thame thay tak. 1587 Acts Jas. VI (1814) 447 (Jam.) Thairefter the Sessioun..to ryse and vacance be for the beirseed during the moneth of Maij. 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Espelta, beere corne Spelta, zea. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 559 The Beare corn or bearded Far. c 1620 Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 100 Where pinch'd with want the Bar bread thou shalt eate. 1753 Scots Mag. XV. 54/2 Bear-meal 7d. |
▪ III. † bear, n.3 Obs. [f. bear v.1] 1. = bearing vbl. n. 2; behaviour.
| a 1400 Chester Pl. 106, I wotte by this boisters beare That tribute I muste paye. |
2. Pressure, thrust.
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 72 The pent or bear of it beneath vvas nothing at all. Ibid. 122 The spring..may, by its bear or elasticity hitch it forwards..creeper-like. |
▪ IV. bear, n.4 Obs. or
dial. (
bɛə(r),
bɪə(r))
Forms: 4–6
bere, 5
bare, 5–7
bear(e, 6
beere,
ber, 6–7
beier, 7–8
bier, 4–
beer.
[ME. bere cognate w. LG. büre, adopted also in modG. as bühre. Of obscure origin; Grimm's derivation from OHG. burjan, burren to raise, is not satisfactory.] A case or covering for a pillow. Usually
pillow-bere,
q.v.| 1369 Chaucer Bk. Duchesse 254 Many a pillow and every bere, Of cloth of Raines to slepe on soft. 1494 Ord. R. Househ. 125 Every pillow two bares of raynes For every pillow two beares. 1522 Bury Wills (1850) 116, I beqwethe to Fraunces Wrethe..ij pelows w{supt} the berys. 1641 Chron. Pret. Snatheuse in Jrnl. Statist. Soc. (1858), 7 linen pillow bears, 8s. 1713 Lond. & Country Brew. i. (1742) 36 A Bag, like a Pillow-bear. 1850 Hood Poems (1864) 269 Right beautiful the dewy meads appear..What then,—if I prefer my pillow-beer? |
▪ V. † bear, n.5 Obs. rare.
Also
bere,
bier.
[Cogn. w. ON. bára wave, billow, perh. f. berja to strike, dash.] A wave, a billow.
| 1250 Lay. 1341 He heþte..seyles drawe to toppe leten lade þane wind passi ouer bieres [1205 uðen]. Ibid. 28077 Þe beares me hire bi-nome. Ibid. 28625 A..sort bot Wandri mid þ[e] beres. |
▪ VI. bear, n.6 U.S. Also
baire.
[Perh. the same as bear n.4, but cf. bar n.5] (See
quot. 1775.)
| 1775 B. Romans Florida 228 Baires are a kind of tent made of a light coarse cloth, like canvas gauze, called by the French villemontiers. 1797 F. Baily Jrnl. Tour (1856) 309 Over the whole [bed] there is a large gauze net (called a bear), which is intended as a defence against the mosquitos. 1798 A. Ellicott in C. V. Mathews Life & Lett. (1908) 158 Our beds are all surrounded with a kind of thin curtains called bears to keep them off when we go to rest. 1895 G. King New Orleans 65 The oarsmen [c 1726] made their mosquito baires for them. |
▪ VII. bear, v.1 (
bɛə(r))
Pa. tense
bore (
bɔə(r)).
Pa. pple. borne (
bɔən),
born (
bɔːn). Forms:
inf. 1
ber-an, (2
beor-en,
bor-en), 2–5
ber-en, 3–6
ber-e, (4
berne,
bern), 4–5
ber, 5
beere,
Sc. 5–6
beir(e, 5– 7
beare, (5–8
bare, 6
baire,
berie), 6–
bear.
pa. tense 1–2
bær (
pl. bǽron), 2–5
ber,
bar (
pl. beren), 4–5
bere, 4–8
bare, (4
beir,
beere,
baar); 5–
bore (
rare till
c 1600), 6
boore;
Sc. 5
bur, 5–6
buir, 6–8
bure; (5
baryd, 7
beared).
pa. pple. 1–4
boren, (4–5
borin(e, 5
borun), 4–7
born (
rare), 5–7
borne (
usual); also 2–4
iboren, 3–5
ibore,
ybore,
ibor, (5
ebore), 3–8
bore, (4–5
bor, 6
arch. yborne,
ybore), 8–9
borne,
born differentiated.
[Common Teut., and Aryan: OE., OS., OHG. ber-an. ON. ber-a, Goth. bair-an:—OTeut. stem ber- = L. fer-, Gr. ϕερ-, Skr. bhar-. (The compound form, Goth. ga-bairan, OHG. ga-beran, OS. gi-beran, OE. ᵹeberan, ME. ibere, is in some of the langs. more usual than the simple verb: cf. MHG. gebern, mod.G. gebären in sense IV). As the senses of carry a burden, and bring forth fruit or offspring, are both found in the word and its derivatives in the Aryan languages generally, from the earliest period, it is not certain which is the primitive; possibly branch IV preceded I in prehistoric times. In mod.Eng. the originally short vowel of the present has been lengthened by position (orig. bɛr,
now bɛə(r)). The
pa. tense, in Gothic
bar,
pl. bêrun, was regularly in
OE. bær,
bǽron (Anglian
béron); early
ME. bar,
beren, afterwards by levelling of
sing. and
pl., in south
ber,
beren,
beeren, in north
bar(e,
baren,
bare, which became the literary form. The later
bore, assimilated in vowel to the
pa. pple., appears in w.
midl. texts, about 1400; it was not general till after 1600; the
Shakes. folio of 1623 has
bore and
bare, but the Bible of 1611 only
bare. The corresponding
Sc. bure,
buir (pointing to earlier
ō) is found in 15th c. As to the two forms of the
pa. pple.,
borne,
born, see 44 below. The
ME. iboren may also be referred to the derivative ibere (see above), which cannot be separated in sense from the simple verb.]
Main senses: I. to carry; II. to sustain; III. to thrust, press; IV. to bring forth.
I. To carry; with its transferred and
fig. senses.
1. a. trans. To support the weight of (anything) whilst moving it from one place to another; to carry. Now usually restricted in prose to the carrying of something weighty or which requires an effort.
| a 1000 Beowulf 96 [Hie hina] leton holm beran, ᵹeafon on gársecᵹ. 1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1135 Wua sua bare his byrthen. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 89 Hie..beren on here honde blostme. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 209 God bar him in-to paradis. c 1380 Wyclif De Ps. Freris xxii. Wks. (1880) 307 Boren aboute wiþ windis. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 943 On his bak he bar..Anchises. c 1400 Mandeville xvi. 172 Men..beeren his body in to Mesopatayme..and aftre he was broughte thidre agen. c 1450 Bk. Curtasye i. 114 With mete ne bere þy knyfe to mowthe. 1483 Cath. Angl. 28 To bere, baiulare, portare. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 17 She hath one a' my sonnets already, the Clowne bore it, the foole sent it. a 1625 Fletcher Eld. Brother i. ii, Court-admirers..ever echo him that bears the bag. 1704 Swift Batt. Bks. (1711) 256 The other half was born by the frighted Steed thro the Field. 1740 Johnson Drake Wks. 1787 IV. 453 Over his head was born a rich canopy. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague I. ii. 138 The wretch who bore them in her womb. 1820 Scott Ivanhoe viii, He was borne senseless from the lists. |
b. absol. To carry burdens.
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, v. v. 90 Forgiuenesse, horse: why do I raile on thee, Since thou..Was't borne to beare? 1611 Bible Gen. xlix. 15 He..bowed his shoulder to beare. |
c. To lift, raise, or keep up (a thing) while moving it.
Obs. or
arch.| 1578 Banister Hist. Man iv. 62 These two muscles baire the hand vpward. 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 98 When he draws back his Saw, the Work-man bears it lightly off the un-sawn Stuff. Ibid. 170 To bear their Work off the Cheeks of the Lathe. |
d. Backgammon: To remove a piece at the end of a game. Also
absol.| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 109, I will no more play at tables with thee: When wee come to bearyng, thou begylest mee, In bearyng of thy men. Ibid. 110 Eche other caste thou bearest a man to many. 1748 Hoyle Backgammon in Penny Cycl. III. 240/2 If you bear any number of men, before you entered a man taken up..such men, so borne, must be entered again in your adversary's tables. |
† e. To take as a companion, take along with one; to carry as a consequence.
Obs.| 1596 Spenser F.Q. i. iv. 2 After that he had faire Una lorne..And false Duessa in her sted had borne. 1607 Shakes. Timon i. i. 131 His honesty rewards him in it selfe, It must not beare my Daughter. |
f. to bear across: to support (things) going across.
| 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. §11. 75 Finding a bridge which bore us across the crevasse. |
2. a. fig. Said in reference to things immaterial, or to ideal carrying.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 47 We aȝen to beren ure louerd ihesu crist on heorte. c 1230 Ancr. R. 424 Nouðer of þe wummen ne beren..none idele talen. a 1300 Cursor M. 2201 Ful fer about men bar his name. c 1500 Merch. & Son in Halliw. Nugæ P. 23 There was not oon man in all thys londe that bare a bettyr brede. 1552 Huloet, Beare tale or tidynges. 1577 Holinshed Chron. III. 831/2 This pope Leo..bare but seauen and thirtie yeeres of age. 1725 Pope Odyss. xvi. 162 To the Queen with speed dispatchful bear Our safe return. 1768 Blackstone Comm. II. 242 The ancestor, during his life, beareth in himself all his heirs. 1805 Southey Madoc in Azt. ii. Wks. V. 213 [He] seem'd to bear at heart Something that rankled there. 1879 Maclear Celts v. 79 Another..incident, which bears internal evidence of high antiquity. |
b. to bear in mind: to carry or keep in remembrance.
| 1538 Bale God's Promyses i. in Dodsley (1780) I. 12 To beare in mynde..The brute of thy name. 1539 Taverner Erasm. Prov. 20 Worthy..to be continually borne in mynde. 1852 M{supc}Culloch Taxation ii. iv. 199 It should..be borne in mind that this is not a mere agricultural question. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 313 He promised to bear the subject in mind. 1870 Bryant Iliad I. iv. 106 Bear what I say in mind. |
c. to bear witness,
bear record,
bear testimony: to testify.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6478 Ne ber þou witnes nan bot lele. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 585 Als þe buk says and bers witnes. 1526 Tindale John viii. 14 Though I beare recorde [Wyclif witnessyng, Rhem. testimonie] of my selfe, yet my recorde is true. 1611 Bible Ex. xx. 16 Thou shalt not beare false witnes against thy neighbour. 1671 Milton Samson 1749 [He] to his faithful champion hath in place Bore witness gloriously. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 508 Titles..against which he had often borne his testimony. |
3. With extension, and in phrases; both in
lit. and
fig. sense.
a. Extended by various advbs., as
about,
away,
off,
out, etc. Sometimes with specialized sense, as
to bear away: to carry away as winner;
† to carry away in the mind (a thing learned)
obs. to be borne away:
i.e. in opinion by feeling, impulse, etc.
† to bear forth: to carry out, conduct (a matter); to develop.
to bear off: to carry off as winner.
to bear out: to pretend, give out (
obs.); to extol (
obs.); to support, back up, corroborate, confirm; to be responsible for (
obs.).
† to bear over: to transfer; to carry over, hold over to a later date.
to bear up: to carry, holding up (a train, etc.).
| 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. xxiii. (1865) 396 To bear* about the piteous spectacle of his own self-ruins. |
| 1842 H. E. Manning Serm. (1848) I. 317 The dying body we now bear* about. |
| c 1450 Rob. Hood (Ritson) i. i. 1132 And he that shoteth alder best The game shall bere* away. |
| 1530 Palsgr. 449/1, I beare* awaye as a well wytted chylde dothe his lesson, Je apprens. |
| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie 5 Easier to beare* away and be retained in memorie. |
| 1711 Spect. No. 548 ¶6 Such tragedies as ended unhappily bore* away the prizes. |
| 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xiv. 114 Borne* away by their prejudices. |
| c 1460 Bk. Quintessence 11 It berith* forþ þat blood anoon aftir into fleisch. |
| 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 212 This Duke had borne* forth his youth with better respect then Prince Henry his brother had done. |
| 1813 Scott Rokeby iii. xxvi, We are enow to storm the hold, Bear* off the plunder and the dame. |
| 1485 Caxton Paris & V. 10 Somme were that bare* out the beaulte of the syster of the Kyng. |
| 1530 Palsgr. 450/2 This felowe beareth* it out, as he were a great gentlyman. |
| 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. 128 He helpeth and beareth* out simple wittes. |
| 1618 Bolton Florus (1636) 153 Thou didst defend thy selfe..against that people which had all the earth to backe, and beare them *out. |
| 1629 Gaule Pract. The. 334 Yet he beares* out, As he'd preuent, or pittie the disaster. |
| 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xix. 166 You think, I suppose, that your friends..will bear you* out. |
| 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. I. vi. 441 A splendid panegyric which is fully borne* out by his recorded acts. |
| 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. x. 8 Rewme fro folc in to folc is born* ouer. |
| ― Prov. xxix. 11 A wis man berth* ouer, and kepith vnto afterward. |
| 1482 Monk of Evesham (1869) 40 They ware bore* vppe an hy by the grete vyolente flamys of fier. |
| 1503 Hawes Examp. Virt. xiii. 255 Dame grace..bare* vp her trayn. |
b. to bear the bell,
bear coals,
bear the cross,
bear a fagot,
bear the flower,
bear the gree,
bear the palm,
bear the prize,
bear a part,
bear the stroke,
bear the word: see
bell, coals, etc.
† to bear low sail: to demean oneself humbly.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 12353 Þa oþer leonis..wiþ þaire heued þai bare logh saile. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, v. i. 52, I had rather chop this Hand off at a blow..Then beare so low a sayle, to strike to thee. 1602 Carew Cornwall 135 b, Our Foy gallants, unable to beare a low sayle, in their fresh gale of fortune. |
† c. to bear the face,
bear the heart: to direct, turn, incline it.
Obs.| c 1300 Beket 224 The King also..bar his hurte mest: to do ther Seint Thomas. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 67 Towarde a foreste I bere þe face. |
d. to bear (any one) company (
fellowship obs.),
bear a hand: to bring, give, lend it.
† to bear one a blow: to give or ‘fetch’ him a blow.
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. 12568 And quen he suld to metschip ga..Alle þai felauschip him bare. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cxi. 133 We desyre you to bere vs some company of armes. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iv. iii. 34, I doe desire thee..To beare me company, and goe with me. 1647 W. Browne Polexander i. 116 Bajazet..bore him a blow that, in all likelyhood, should have bereft his life. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones vii. vii. (1840) 90 You have promised to bear me company. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Bear-a-hand, a phrase of the same import with make haste..quick. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. vi. 307 Get him to bear a hand. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. II. vii. v. 290 This pleasant streamlet..has borne us company for some time. |
† e. to bear (an, a, on) in hand [
= F.
maintenir,
med.L.
manūtenēre]: to maintain (a statement); maintain or assert to or against (a person); to charge, accuse (
obs. c 1540); to profess, pretend; to assure, to lead (one) to believe; to delude, abuse with false pretences.
† to bear in hand: to carry on, manage.
| c 1300 Beket 909 We wolleth the bere an hond: that thu ert his traitour. c 1340 Cursor M. 15922 (Trin.) Ȝe bere me wrong on honde. c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 522 This false knight..Bereth hir an hand that sche hath don this thing. 1461 Paston Lett. 396 II. 20 The parson of Snoryng..beryth hym a hand. c 1470 Henry Wallace i. 37 As Con's Cornykle bers on hand. 1513 Douglas æneis vi. xv. 103 The batellis and the weir, Quhilk eftir this he had to beir on hand. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 357 They bare me in hande . that I was a spye. 1528 More Heresyes i. Wks. 109/1 To dowte whither Luther himselfe..wrote in dede so euyll as he is borne in hande. 1547 Homilies i. Fear of Death iii. (1859) 103 The love which we bear in hand to bear to him. 1597 Daniel Civ. Wars vi. xxxiii, Devotion..Bears men a Hand on their Credulity. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iv. i. 305 What, beare her in hand vntill they come to take hands. 1611 ― Cymb. v. v. 43 Your daughter, whom she bore in hand to loue. 1625 Ussher Answ. Jesuit 4 Not so easie to be discerned, as fooles bee borne in hand they are. a 1716 South (1717) VI. 25 If Popery and Fanaticism are so irreconcilable, as our True Protestants would bear us in hand that they are. |
† f. to bear it: to carry off as a prize, to ‘carry’ by assault, carry the day.
Obs.| 1604 Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 23 So may he with more facile question beare it? 1612 Bacon Ess. (Arb.) 216 Some thinke to beare it, by..being peremptorye. a 1625 Fletcher Mad Lover ii. i. 7 'Tis worth doing..but what doing beares it? |
4. refl. to bear oneself: to carry, conduct, or deport oneself; behave. acquit oneself. Sometimes (like
behave oneself)
= to conduct oneself properly.
| c 1230 Ancr. R. 4 Hu me schal beren him wiðuten. 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 98 Þe gode quene gaf him in conseile, To luf his folk bituene..Bere him tille his barons. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 798 Which of yow that bereth him best of alle. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) II. 524 Who-so in pride beryth hym to hye, with myscheff shalbe mekyd. 1530 Palsgr. 450/1, I beare my selfe well. 1593 Hooker Eccl. Pol. ii. vii. §10 Wks. 1841 I. 268 Who bear themselves bold upon human authority. ? c 1600 World & Child in Hazl. Dodsl. I. 248 Bear thee prest in every game. 1658 Ussher Ann. vi. 163 Clearchus..bearing himself for a Tyrant of Byzantium. 1754 Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. ix. 257 A Man may bear himself so well in Disguise, as not to be discovered. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 618 The latest generations would know how..he had borne himself. |
5. To have as a member or part of the body.
| 1486 Bk. St. Albans E iij, And beerith talow and gris. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 309 Seruants..that bare eyes To see alike mine Honor, as their Profits. 1808 Scott Marm. vi. xvi, Eustace, thou bear'st a brain. 1817 Byron Manfred ii. iv. 92 Bear what thou borest, The heart and the form. |
6. To carry about with or upon one, as material equipment or ornament.
a. To carry about with one, or wear, ensigns of office, weapons of offence or defence.
to bear arms against: to be engaged in hostilities with.
| a 1000 Beowulf 432 Secᵹas bǽron..beorhte frætwa. a 1175 Lamb. Hom. 69 Crist..ȝeue us wepne for to beren. c 1400 Mandeville vi. 64 Thei beren but o Scheld and o Spere. ? 1568 G. Ferrers in Arb. Garner IV. 179 Apt to bear arms. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 60 He bure armes, and made weir against the King. 1769 Robertson Chas. V, III. xi. 316 An ample..pardon to all who had born arms against him. 1862 Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. v. 94 The staff like that still borne by Arab chiefs. |
† b. To have upon the body (clothes, ornaments); to wear.
to bear the breech: to ‘wear the breeches.’
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. iv. x. §12 [He] bær hæt on his heafde. c 1230 Ancr. R. 382 Ich wot swulne þet bereð boðe togedere heui brunie and here. a 1300 Cursor M. 9071 ‘Tas of’..‘mi kinges croun þat i na langer agh to bere.’ c 1400 Rom. Rose 6240 Many..that comyn clothe ay beeren, Yit seyntes neverethelesse they weren. c 1500 Mayd Emlyn in Anc. Poet. Tr. (1842) 20 All women be suche Thoughe the man bere the breche, They wyll be euer checkemate. 1574 Hellowes Gueuara's Ep. (1577) 87 The good or the euil of monasteries lyeth not in y⊇ habite, but in the men that beare it. |
c. To display on a heraldic shield; to be entitled to wear or use as coat armour.
| a 1450 Syr Eglam. 1186 He bare of Aser, a schyp of golde. 1486 Bk. St. Albans, Her. A j, Beyng in worthenes aarmes for to bere. 1599 Thynne Animadv. 42 The erle of Kent beareth a wiuer for his Creste and supporters. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Bear, He that has a Coat of Arms, is said to Bear it in the several Charges or Ordinaries that are in his Escutcheon. 1825 Scott Talism. (1832) 225 The shield..bore..a serrated and rocky mountain. |
7. To carry about with one, to have attached to, or impressed upon one, to own, have:
a. a feature, external character, look. (
= to present.)
| a 1300 Cursor M. 18823 Bot of his liknes þat he bare. 1393 Gower Conf. I. 339 No life..Which berth visage of mannes kinde. c 1550 Hickscorner in Hazl. Dodsl. I. 171 Outward he beareth a fair face. 1600 Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 470 Many Mountaines that beare shewes of Mettals. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 4 ¶8 Falshood..shall hereafter bear a blacker Aspect. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc iv. 28 So firm a front They bear in battle. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 142 Old Cavaliers..who bore the marks of honourable wounds. |
b. a name, title, etc.
| c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. ii. §12. 23 After which planete the day berith his name. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xvii. 203 For bishopes blessed · thei bereþ meny names. 1581 Marbeck Bk. of Notes 341 The Epistle which beareth the title to the Hebrues. 1850 Prescott Mexico I. 63 Four beautiful girls, bearing the names of the principal goddesses. |
c. a reputation, praise, blame, price, value, etc.
| c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 73 The fyfte mayster..That of wisdom bare grete loos. 1588 Munday in Farr S.P. (1845) I. 230 The sweetest face..And highest head.. Beare no more reckoning then the poorest slaue. 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4658/2 The Blank Tickets bear seven per Cent. Interest. 1816 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. (1828) I. 331 It..is exported to India, where it bears a high price. 1845 Hood Recipe Civiliz. Wks. (1871) 298 That which bears the praise of nations. 1866 Rogers Agric. & Prices I. ii. 17 Natural meadow bore a high rental. |
8. To wield (power, sway, etc.); to hold (an office).
Cf. office-bearer.
| c 1300 Beket 2409, [He] scholde have Ibore the heritage. 1503–4 Act 19 Hen. VII, xxvii. §11 No merchaunt..[shall] bere eny voyce ne have eny sayngs in eny Courte. 1534 Whittinton Tullyes Offices ii. (1540) 99 In that yere that I bare roume. 1535 Coverdale 1 Chron. xxvii. 6 Sonnes..which bare rule in the house of their fathers. 1552 Latimer Serm. II. 138 They bear the swing, all things goeth after their minds. 1570 R. Ascham Scholem. (1863) 37 To beare some office in the common wealth. 1650 R. Stapylton Strada's Low C. Warres ii. 29 That they should bear all the sway. 1690 Idiom. Anglo-Lat. 42 That Office did I bear. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 671 Those great Celtic houses, which..bore rule in Ulster. |
9. fig. To entertain, harbour, cherish (a feeling).
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1044 Salt ðu noȝt ðe riȝt-wise weren, Or for hem ðe toðere með beren? a 1300 Cursor M. 1069 Vntil his broþer nith [v.r. ire] he bare. Ibid. 12096 Ye ber him right nan au [v.r. awe]. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour F iv b, Obeysshe and bere hym honour. 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, xix. Pream., The true faythe that hys Highnesse berythe unto Almyghty Gode. 1538 Starkey England iii. (1871) 82 One beryth malyce agayn another. 1570 T. Wilson Demosthenes 23 Now that the Thebanes beare us the stomache, that you see they doe. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. vi. 9 The deare loue I beare to faire Anne Page. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. iv. ix. (1622) 103 She beareth the minde to passe the rest of her life with a Gentleman of Rome. 1727 Swift Gulliver iii. ii. 189 The contempt they bear for practical geometry. 1872 Black Adv. Phaeton xxvi. 356 He bore her no malice. |
10. To hold, maintain, possess, or have (a property or attribute, a relation to something else).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 2682 Circumcising Bers in it-self gret for-biseyng. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. ii. xxix. (1695) 204 Nothing finite bears any proportion to infinite. 1841 Macaulay W. Hastings, Ess. (1851) I. 16 His mind bears a singular analogy to his body. 1857 Buckle Civilis. I. ix. 576 The relation the nobles bore to the throne. 1863 Fawcett Pol. Econ. ii. v. 194 The ratio which population bears to capital. |
II. To sustain, support, uphold.
*
To sustain weight or pressure,
to endure.
11. a. trans. To sustain, support (a weight or strain).
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xx. 12 Þe bæron byrðena, on þises dæges hætan. c 1375 Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 66 Þei shal bere..the wiȝte of þe olde lawe. 1399 Rich. Redeless i. 41 The braunchis aboue boren grett charge. c 1550 Scot. Poems 16th C. (1810) II. 160 Our seiknes on thy back thou bure. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 3 Atlas-like it seem'd the heaven they beared. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §246 Proportionate in every part to the stress it was likely to bear. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. ii. ii. 79 When the ice would bear them. 1849 Ruskin Sev. Lamps ii. (1855) 34 For the shafts do indeed bear as much as they are ever imagined to bear. |
b. absol. or intr.;
spec. in
Building, to stand a strain without intermediate support. Of ice: to support the weight of a person, etc.
| 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 157 Timber is said to Bear at its whole length, when neither a Brick-wall, or Posts, etc. stand between the ends of it. Ibid. 136 Joysts are seldom made to Bear at above ten Foot in length. 1768 Washington Diaries (1925) I. 246 Attempted to go into the Neck on the Ice, but it wd. not bear. 1833 Chambers's Edin. Jrnl. XI. 381/2 [He] succeeded in forming a curling rink weeks before the ice would bear in any other quarter. 1917 O. Viney Let. 27 Dec. in E. V. Lucas Post-Bag Diversions (1934) 58 We cycled to Hartwell lake..as we heard that it was bearing. |
12. a. fig. (of an immaterial burden, charge, cost, responsibility, etc.) Formerly also
bear out.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 379 To bere þeruore a certeyn rente by þe ȝere. a 1300 Cursor M. 5667 Him þat bare þe wite. 1439 E.E. Wills (1882) 125 Certayne annuities borne oute of hem [manors]. 1529 More in Four C. Eng. Lett. 12 There shall no poore neighbour..bere no losse. 1598 W. Phillips Linschoten's Voy. in Arb. Garner III. 403 The Farmers bearing the adventure of the sea. 1606 G. W[oodcocke] Ivstine 24 a, Darius..promised to beare out the whole charges of those Warres. 1611 Bible Gen. xiii. 6 The land was not able to beare them, that they might dwell together. 1769 Sterne Serm. Yorick v. (1773) 63 It had been..better for the nation to have bore the expence. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 263 Lewis would bear the charge of supporting two thousand of them [troops]. |
b. † to bear the person of: to sustain the character of, to personate (
obs.).
to bear a part: to sustain a part, take part, share
in.
| 1605 Verstegan Dec. Intell. x. (1634) 320 A vice-roy: that is, he that in the Kings absence supplieth his place and beareth his person. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. i. xvi. 80 He that acteth another, is said to beare his Person. Ibid. iii. xlii. 267 Here wee have the Person of God born now the third time. |
13. trans. To sustain successfully;
fig. to stand (a strain, test, examination); to allow or admit of.
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. (1882) 60, Lx. mares..able to beare the horse. 1605 Shakes. Lear v. iii. 26 Thy great imployment Will not beare question. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. vii. 33 The ship will beare much, that is, carry much Ordnance or goods, or beare much saile. 1697 Dryden Virg. Ded., No Modern Latin can bear criticism. 1762 Falconer Shipwr. ii. 245 The ship no longer can her top⁓sails bear. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §137 The cable..would scarcely have borne to have been heaved up. 1838 Macaulay in Trevelyan Life & Lett. (1876) II. vii. 11 The style will not bear examination. 1849 Ruskin Sev. Lamps i. §15. 25 It is not less the boast of some styles that they can bear ornament. |
† 14. intr. (for
refl.) To hold good; to hold, stand, ‘do.’ (
Cf. also
bring to bear in 33.)
Obs.| 1710 Steele Tatler No. 199 ¶5 If the Matter bears, I shall not be unjust to his Merit. 1737 Waterland Eucharist 112 The Argument will not bear in the View before mentioned. 1742 Richardson Pamela III. 227 We are going into Personals again, Gentlemen..And that wont bear. |
15. To sustain (anything painful or trying); to suffer, endure, pass through:
a. without any reference to the manner of bearing.
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1272 And beryn..for hire sake Not I not what. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 71 Three battes hee bure, or hee his feet might find. c 1470 Henry Wallace ii. 210 In fureous payne, yat ye bur. c 1580 Amadis of Gaule 273 This great sorow that I beare and suffer. 1718 Pope Iliad i. 270 The wrongs I bear from Atreus son. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague ii. ii. 118 A melancholy pleasant to be borne. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. I. i. 281 That we can bear such things and yet not die. |
b. To suffer without succumbing, to sustain without giving way, to endure. Formerly with
away,
out (
cf. hold out,
stand out).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 15617 Him..þat baret for yow bare. 1526 Tindale John xvi. 12, I have yet many thynges to saye vnto you; but ye cannot beare them awaye now. 1547 Baldwin Mor. Philos. vi. iii, Patiently beare the time. 1574 tr. Marlorat's Apocalips 17 Blessed is the man that beareth out temptation. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 437 The Horses can abide no cold, but the Asses and Mules bear out. 1611 Bible Gen. iv. 13 My punishment is greater then I can beare. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 542 He who bears in Thrace the bitter Cold. 1755 Smollett Quix. (1803) II. 143 With an intrepid heart..he bears the brunt of their whole artillery. 1796 H. Glasse Cookery xiv. 215 Make it as hot as you can bear your finger in it. 1864 Daily Tel. 16 May, We can only recommend Alphonse and Theophile..to grin and bear it; the expression, perchance, savours a little of slang. |
c. To endure without opposition or resistance, to tolerate (a thing); also with
inf. or
subord. clause.
| c 900 Laws of ælfred i. (Bosw.) Ic nelle beran eowre ᵹymeleaste. a 1300 Cursor M. 12991 Na langer Mai i nu þi wicked wordes ber. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xxvi. 37 The kyng myght no longer bear by his honour the iniuryes and wronges. 1659 in Burton Diary (1828) IV. 49, I say not but the army will bear, that you sit to levy money. 1704 Rowe Ulyss. i. i. 230 My Lords, this Railer is not to be born. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 26 The public would not have borne to see any Papist among the servants of their Majesties. |
d. To reconcile oneself to, put up with, tolerate, away with. (Always negatively, interrogatively, or hypothetically: often with infinitive.)
Cf. abear.
| 1710 Tatler No. 219 ¶4 There is no reasonable Man can bear him half an Hour. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xii. 100 [He] could not bear to think of distressing her. 1813 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. xv. 62 The man whom she could not bear to speak of. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. 2 ‘What hurt can it do you?’ ‘None, none. But I cannot bear it.’ Mod. I cannot bear antimacassars! |
16. to bear hard,
bear heavy or
bear heavily (L.
ægre ferre): to endure with a grudge, take (a thing) ill or amiss, have ill will to, have a resentment against; so
to bear upon the spleen.
Obs. exc. arch.| c 1400 Apol. Loll. Introd. 10 Many beren heuy that freris ben clepid pseudo or ypocritis. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. ii. i. 215 Caius Ligarius doth beare Caesar hard. 1602 Life T. Cromwell iv. ii. 112 You bear me hard about the abbey lands. 1629 tr. Herodian (1635) 38 Divers, that bore Perennius upon the spleene, for his intolerable haughty and disdainefull carriage. a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. I. i. 32 The Ill Success was heavily born, and imputed to ill Conduct. 1874 Swinburne Bothwell (1882) ii. i. 97 It may be you do well to bear me hard. |
17. intr. to bear with: to put up with, be patient with, make allowance for. (With indirect passive
to be borne with.)
| a 1553 Udall Royster D. iv. vii. (Arb.) 74 The heart of a man Should more honour winne by bearyng with a woman. a 1586 Answ. Cartwright 72 Ignorance..is to bee borne with. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iii. ii. 110 Beare with me, my heart is in the coffin there with Cæsar. 1712 Pope Spect. No. 408 ¶7 Little Irregularities are sometimes to be bore with. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc ii. 223 He would bid us Bear with our miseries manfully. 1872 Freeman Norm. Conq. IV. xviii. 113 A foreign King had to be borne with. |
**
To support,
keep up,
maintain. Usually with
up.
18. a. trans. To hold (
up) from falling or sinking, to support, keep
up.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 537 Hijs fete him bers up fra fall. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. liv. (1495) 170 The fote..beryth vp all the body. 1439 E.E. Wills (1882) 117, Ij Greffons to bere hit vppe. 1611 Bible Judges xvi. 29 The two middle pillars..on which it was borne vp. 1684 R. Waller Nat. Exper. 50 The Water..may fill about half the Ball, that the Fishes may move, and bear themselves thereon. |
b. spec. To hold up a horse's head with a ‘bearing rein.’
to bear a rein upon: to hold in check by this means. Also
fig.| 1603 S. Daniel Defence Rhime (1717) 29 The best Rein, the strongest Hand to make men keep their Way, is, that which their Enemy bears upon them. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 284 Let him [a horse with a crick in the neck] be ridden..by such a one as will bear his head, and make him to bring it in. 1610 Healey St. Aug. City of God 903 The hand of God bearing a raine upon our condemned soules. |
† 19. trans. To uphold (any one in a course of action).
refl. and intr. To exalt or lift up oneself
upon, to plume oneself, presume.
Obs.| c 1400 Apol. Loll. 64 Maynteynd, & born vp in iuel. 1535 Shaxton in Strype Eccl. Mem. I. ii App. lxi. 150 If yee..bear the Abbot in his evil dealing that he may escape..see yee thereto. 1565 Jewel Def. Apol. (1611) 227 The truth will be able euermore to beare it selfe. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turkes (1621) 894 The Spaniards bearing themselves upon their wealth, were too proud. 1635 Naunton Fragm. Reg. (1870) 17 The Gentleman bearing high on my Lords favor. 1697 Potter Antiq. Greece iii. vii. (1715) 67 Families..bearing themselves much higher on their Original. |
20. To sustain, keep up, or keep going (the burden or bass of a song).
arch.| c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 673 This sompnour bar to him a stiff burdoun. 1611 Cotgr., Faire le contre..to beare a burden, or sing the plain song wheron another descants. a 1656 Bp. Hall Soliloquies 68 Who hath heard..the bittern bearing her base in the coldest months? 1813 Scott Rokeby v. vii, A manly voice..Bare burthen to the music well. |
21. to bear up:
a. (
trans.) to uphold (a principle); to keep up the spirits of (a person).
| 1606 L. Bryskett Civ. Life 20 Persons to assist my accuser, and beare vp his cause. 1658 Cromwell Sp. 25 Jan. (Carl.), To bear up our honour at sea. 1852 Hammers & Ploughshares iv. 27 What hope have you to bear you up? |
† b. refl. To exalt oneself;
cf. 19.
Obs.| a 1520 Myrr. Our Ladye 188 Thou ouercomest them that bere vp themselfe. |
c. intr. (for
refl.) To keep up one's courage or spirits; to maintain one's ground (
against difficulties); not to succumb.
| 1656 More Antid. Ath. i. ix. (1712) 26 Bearing up as well as they can. 1668 Child Disc. Trade (1698) 219 The Portuguese, except they alter their politicks..can never bear up with us, much less prejudice our Plantations. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 256 ¶8 To bear up under Scandal and Defamation. 1796 Burke Regic. Peace Wks. 1842 II. 291 Bearing up against those vicissitudes of fortune. 1850 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. iii. 15 ‘Bear up, now, and good bye; for I'm going.’ |
***
To hold up,
hold,
have upon it.
22. To uphold, hold up, hold on top or aloft.
| c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 369 Þe nayles three, þat paynede crist wan he was born on þe rode Tree. 1398 Trevisa Barth De P.R. xi. i. (1495) 381 Ayre..beryth the fyre and is boren of the water. 1850 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxvii. 252 Eva's little table..bore on it her favourite vase, with a single white moss rose-bud in it. |
23. a. To have written or inscribed upon it. Phr.
to bear date: to be dated (as specified).
| 1440, etc. [in M.E.D. s.v. date n. (2) 2 (a)]. 1446 in Trevelyan Papers (1857) 27 Your letters..beryng date at West{mtilde} the xx day of Juyl the xxv yere of your..regne. 1503–4 Act 19 Hen. VII, xxxviii. Preamb., Lettres patentez beryng date at Westminster the xxj day of August. 1660 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 119 A Pillar..bare this inscription, Sacred to Diana. 1712, 1837 [see date n.2 1]. 1853 Phillips Rivers Yorksh. viii. 195 Coins, bearing the effigy of the Horse. 1864 Times 6 Dec., These deeds bear dates from 1573 to about 1660. 1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 593/2 Bearing date the 16th April 1871. |
b. pass. To be entered or registered
in a list,
on the books of any establishment, etc.
| 1758 J. Blake Plan Mar. Syst. 7 Each man so listed..shall be borne upon the said ship, in the same class in which he is rated. 1803 Nelson in Nicolas Disp. V. 321 A complement of sixty men, including two boys, to be borne on the third class. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 38 Though borne on the English establishment, that regiment..had been almost exclusively composed of Scotchmen. 1863 Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. iii. viii. 724 All persons borne on the books of Queen's ships in commission. |
24. a. fig. To have or convey the meaning, to purport (
that).
arch.| a 1300 Cursor M. 14753 Oure lord hem ȝaf þis vnswere But þei wist not what hit bare. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xix. (1811) 167 The Greeks call this figure Anadiplosis, I call him the Redouble as the originall beares. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 53 The description of..the Palace of Solomon bears, that it was made with smooth hard stone. 1746 Rep. Cond. Sir. J. Cope 116 The Letter bears, that the pretended Prince of Wales came lately on the Coast. |
b. To profess, claim, purport (
to be).
| 1759 Robertson in H. Campbell Love-Lett. Mary Q. Scots (1824) 235 A French translation..bears to have been printed at Edinburgh by Thomas Waltem, 1572. a 1859 L. Hunt Autobiogr. iii. (1860) 72 A portrait..bearing to be the likeness of a certain Erasmus Smith, Esq. |
† 25. to bear (a thing) upon (one): to allege, charge
upon, lay to the charge of. [The proper position of this sense is doubtful.]
| c 1375 Wyclif Antecrist 133 Crist was..beten, and skourged, and false borne upon. c 1449 Pecock Repr. 363 The seid large endewing Born upon Constantin to be mad to Silvester Pope was neuere doon. |
III. trans. and intr. To push, thrust, press. [This group seems to have arisen in a transference of the sense from
carry to an action producing the same result (
i.e. the moving forward of a body) by a different application of force, that of continuous pressure. This once established, the extension of the idea to pressure of many kinds, both horizontal and vertical, followed. Thus there result senses of
bear directly contrary to each other, as when a post bears the pressure which is brought to bear upon it, or a man bears up till calamity bears him down.]
*
To push,
press.
26. a. trans. To move (a thing) onward by force of pressure; to push, force, drive;
cf. ‘carry’ in same sense.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 16252 Hu þat þis folk þe beres to þe dede. c 1400 Destr. Troy iv. 1279 Þan pollux..Bere backeward the batell. c 1450 Merlin vii. 117 He bar hym ouer the horse croupe. 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 470 They..will needs bear all the world before them. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc vi. 397 Borne backward Talbot turns. 1855 Motley Dutch Rep. ii. ii, (1866) 163 Bearing him off over his horse's tail. |
b. Naut. to bear off.
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ix. 44 A ship boord, beare off is used to euery thing you would thrust from you. |
27. esp. to bear down, formerly also
bear over (whence
overborne): to push to the ground, overwhelm, overthrow, vanquish. Also
fig.| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. ix. xxxi. (1495) 368 Metynge and berynge downe the fende. c 1435 Torr. Portugal 1171. Hors and man down he bore. 1576 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 331 He bare it [a Door] cleane downe before him, and so escaped. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 132 The Tartars..bearing downe the world before them. 1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts 516 He shall..beare over and kill those that stood against him. 1680 Burnet Rochester (1692) 98 A Doctrine which was born down and persecuted. a 1811 Leyden Ld. Soulis, They bore him down with lances bright. 1840 Macaulay Ranke, Ess. (1854) 550/2 His activity and zeal bore down all opposition. |
† 28. fig. to bear (one) down: to overthrow in debate; maintain one's point against, insist in opposition to (any one).
Obs.| 1526 Tindale Acts xii. 15 She bare them doune that hit was even so. 1641 Milton Prel. Episc. Wks. (1851) 92 Though hee himselfe..should beare us downe that there bee three. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 87 [He] roundly bears us down, That two such worlds would touch without more ado. |
29. a. intr. To press (laterally)
on, to thrust at, to come with force or pressure against.
arch. Also with
at,
to (
obs.).
| c 1450 Merlin vii. 118 Thei bar to hym so harde that Arthur was throwe to the erthe. Ibid. viii. 127 And he bar on hym so sore that he threwe the knyght to grounde. 1513 Douglas æneis x. x. 24 The tother..Buyr at hym mychtely with a lang speyr. 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4647/3 Two East-India Men..received Damage by bearing upon one another as they were sailing out of the Harbour. |
b. fig. To press
hard(ly) or
heav(il)y upon, to affect adversely or injuriously. (In
mod. use this is
prob. often pictured as the downward pressure of a burden: see
bear)
| 1699 Bentley Phal. 272 The next will bear harder upon him. 1713 Guardian No. 53 (1756) I. 237, I will not bear hard upon his contrition. 1834 H. Miller Scenes & Leg. xxii. (1857) 322 An open, boisterous winter, that bore heavy on the weak and aged. 1877 Tyndall in Daily News 2 Oct. 2/4 No great mechanical improvement..is introduced..that does not bear hardly upon individuals. |
30. Transferred to downward pressure, as that of a load:
a. trans. with
down.
| 1674 Playford Skill Mus. ii. 102 Bearing it [a string of an instrument] hard down with the end of your finger. 1853 Forster Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.) 327 The branches..were almost borne down with the weight of the fruit. 1864 Tennyson En. Ard. 679 The dead weight..bore it down. |
b. intr. with
down.
Cf. bearing vbl. n. 8.
| 1835 Todd Cycl. Anat. & Phys. I. 17/2 A woman who ‘bears down’..will thus accelerate her delivery. |
c. intr. with
on.
| 1829 Southey All for Love vi. Wks. VII. 186 While she pray'd the load of care Less heavily bore on her heart. |
31. intr. To exert or transmit mechanical pressure
upon,
on,
against (a point which sustains it); to repose one's weight, to rest
upon;
also to press as a spring, to ‘thrust’ (as an arch against its piers).
| 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 148 This Post.. bears upon the Floor. 1715 Desaguliers Fires Impr. 122 Which must bear against the Limbs of the Sector-Pieces. 1854 Scoffern in Orr's Circ. Sc. Chem. 292 Little collars of leather..bearing against the shoulders of the apparatus. |
32. a. To exert a practical effect or influence
on or
upon, to tend to affect; to have reference to, relate to, come into practical contact with, touch.
| 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 87 Their edge bore alwayes upon J.O. either in broad meanings or in plain terms. 1794 Paley Evid. ii. vii. (1817) 187 To point out how the argument bears upon the general question. 1836 Recoll. House of Lords viii. 155 His matter..always bears directly on the question before the House. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xii. 197 How this marriage bears on the history of Maine. 1883 Ld. Carlingford in Echo 1 Sept. 4/2 A..collection of artistic objects bearing on industry. |
† b. To touch
upon, border close
upon, lie very near to (in nature or character).
Obs.| 1682 Lond. Gaz. No. 1731/4 A..Coat of grey colour'd Cloth bearing upon the blew. 1835 Marryat Jac. Faithf. xv, He related an accident..which particularly bore upon the marvellous. |
33. to bring to bear: to bring into effective operation (
against,
upon,etc.); to bring about, to cause to act; to employ, exert. (
Cf. also 14.)
| 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) VIII. 1 Your cousin..had with difficulty brought this meeting to bear. 1775 Johnson Lett. 127 (1788) I. 275, I am still of opinion that we shall bring the Oxford riding-school to bear. 1833 H. Martineau Tale Tyne iii. 64 Whenever legislation is brought to bear directly upon industry. 1853 Lytton My Novel iii. iii, Randal now brought his experience and art to bear. 1866 Kingsley Herew. xxi. 266 Before a bow could be brought to bear. 1871 Tyndall Fragm. Sc. I. vii. 245 No human instrument has been brought to bear upon these stones. |
34. Here may also be put the phrases:
† to bear off: to resist and cause (a stroke) to rebound, to repel, to ward off, to ‘turn’ (a shower, etc.).
Obs. to bear in,
pass. to be borne in: to be forced in, impressed with force
upon (the mind); in which there is also some admixture of notions belonging to I and II.
| 1542 Udall Erasm. Apophth. 318 b, With the sweorde wee laie on, with the bucler wee beare of. 1570 R. Ascham Scholem. (1863) 112 A demie bukram cassok..which will neither beare of winde nor wether. 1641 Milton Ch. Discip. i. Wks. (1851) 22 His Helmet, to beare off blowes in battell. 1818 Q. Rev. XVIII. 537 It had been born in upon his mind..that some great man..was to be cut off. 1852 J. H. Newman Disc. Univ. Educ. 103 It is borne in upon the many..as self-evident, that religious men would not thus be jealous. |
**
To thrust (
through).
† 35. trans. To thrust, pierce, stab (a person
through the body, or his body
through,
with a spear, etc.) [
Cf. the
mod. ‘to run one through with a rapier’ and ‘to run a rapier through him.’] Also with other prepositions.
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. 7625 Thoru he had his bodi born, If he ne had blenked. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1398 Than pray I the, to morwe with a spere That Arcita me thurgh the herte bere. c 1400 Roland 689 He brek his sheld, and bar hym to the hert. c 1400 Melayne 1395 Thurgh the schelde..He was borne with a brande. c 1420 Avow. Arth. xvi, He bare him inne atte the throte. c 1435 Torr. Portugal 689 To the hart he baryd hym than. 1470–85 Malory Arthur (1816) II. 440 They met together so furiously, that either bear other through. |
***
To press oneself;
move,
tend,
lie in a given direction. [An intransitive development of 26.]
36. intr. To press, force one's way against resistance; to move with effort, with persistence, or with a distinct bias in some direction. Extended by many
advs., as
back,
away,
on,
down.
| 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1417 Here one, being thronged, bears back. 1601 ― Jul. C. iii. ii. 172 Stand backe; roome, beare backe. 1742 R. Blair Grave 767 The..bird..claps his..wings, and bears away. 1754 P. H. Hiberniad §2. 14 Let any Stranger..bear away and visit the County of Wicklow. 1810 Scott Lady of L. ii. xvi, Nearer and nearer as they bear. 1842 H. E. Manning Serm. xviii. (1848) I. 272 The stream of this visible world, which bears down in a heavy tide away from God. 1862 Tyndall Mountaineer vi. 47 The queenly orb..clears the mountain, and bears splendidly away. 1872 Jenkinson Guide Lakes (1879) 226 On arriving at the top of the crag, bear a little to the right. |
37. a. esp. in
Nautical phraseology: To sail in a certain direction; hence,
to bear away: to sail away, leave.
to bear down (upon or towards): to sail with the wind (towards).
to bear off: see
quot. to bear up: to put the helm ‘up’ so as to bring the vessel into the direction of the wind.
to bear up for, or
bear with (a place): to sail towards.
| 1605 Shakes. Temp. iii. ii. 3 Beare vp, & boord em'. 1611 Bible Acts xxvii. 15 The ship..could not beare vp into [Geneva make way against] the winde. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ix. 44 When a ship sailes with a large wind towards the land..we say she beares in with the land..And when she would not come neere the land, but goeth more Roome-way than her course, wee say she beares off. c 1630 Risdon Surv. Devon §210 (1810) 218 A mark to sailors, who bear with Plymouth haven. 1699 Bentley Phal. 328 She must not make to the next safe Harbour; but..bear away for the remotest. 1709 Lond. Gaz. No. 4521/2 We all bore down to secure what Merchant ships we could. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 428 ¶1 People tost in a troubled Sea, without knowing to what Shore they bear. 1748 Anson Voy. ii. xi. 256 We bore down to them, and took them up. 1772–84 Cook Voy. (1790) V. 1820 We passed the rocks, and bore up to the southward. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §98 The wind being now fair for that port, we bore away for it. 1798 Jrnl. in Nicolas Nelson's Disp. III. 48 Nelson immediately bore up under all sail, for Alexandria. 1812 J. Wilson Isle of Palms i. 397 Onwards with the favouring gale..Th' impatient Vessel bore. 1854 H. Miller Sch. & Schm. (1858) 12 They bore out to sea. 1865 Parkman Champlain i. (1875) 182 The voyagers..bore away for France. |
b. Naut. and
gen. to bear down upon: to proceed (
esp. with force) towards.
| 1716 Lond. Gaz. No. 5455/3 Our Fleet..bore down upon them..keeping the Wind of them. 1867 Baker Nile Tribut. xiii. 328 A tremendous crashing in the jungle..and continued shouts..assured us that they were bearing down exactly upon our direction. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 15 Both consuls bore down on the left wing of the enemy. |
38. To extend or stretch away, to continue to lie in a particular direction, as a coast line, a mountain range, etc.
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 56 Such an obliquitie and winding might seem to decline and beare out too much vnto one side. Ibid. I. 73 From whence proceedeth and beareth forth the necke or cape of Peloponnesus. 1883 Harper's Mag. Nov. 822/1 The Battenkill bears southward for twenty miles. |
39. Chiefly
Naut.: To lie off in a certain direction from a given point or place. (
Cf. bearing.)
| 1594 Blundevil Exerc. vii. xxiv. 682 The Ship-master knowing..how the port..beareth from the place from which he departeth. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. v. i. 10 This is Lucentios house, My fathers beares more toward the market-place. 1668 Smith Voy. in Misc. Cur. (1708) III. 59 Then shewed him how Constantinople beared from Candia. 1765 Tucker Lt. Nat. II. 388 You must bring such a hill to bear directly over such a point of the shore. 1835 Sir J. Ross N.-W. Pass. vi. 88 Possession Bay bore due west. |
40. a. Of cannon: To lie so as to ‘cover,’ or be in position for discharging shot effectively (
upon).
| 1692 in Capt. Smith's Seaman's Gram. I. xvi. 75 A piece of Ordnance doth come to bear, that is, lies right with the Mark. 1711 Bourn in Lond. Gaz. No. 4906/2, I could not bring a Broadside to bear. a 1804 Nelson in Nicolas Disp. II. 14 Our after-guns ceased to bear. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. VIII. xix. vii. 230 Finck had no artillery to bear on Daun's transit through the Pass. |
b. (
casual). To direct a shot or missile.
| 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 28 You must bear the first fired rocket above the rest. |
41. Painting. Of colours:
to bear out: to ‘come out’ effectively or with some effect.
Cf. to bring out, and
to be brought out. (
rare.)
| 1855 J. Edwards Oil Paint. 28 The colours of pigments ‘bear out’ with effects differing according to the liquids with which they are combined. |
IV. To bring forth, produce, give birth to.
42. To bring forth, produce, yield:
a. said of plants bearing leaves, flowers, fruit. Also
fig.| a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 479 (Gr.) Déaþes béam se bær bitres fela. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. vii. 17 ælc gód treow byrð gode wæstmas. 1297 R. Glouc. 352 To blowe, & suþþe to bere frut. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. lxi, Trees that beere well fruyte. c 1400 Rom. Rose 3128 Pulled..Fro the roser that it bere. 1567 Drant Horace's Epist. vii. D iij, Whilst sommer swage, and the figge tree her pryme frute haue Ibore. 1607 Shakes. Timon iv. iii. 422 The Oakes beare Mast, the Briars Scarlet Heps. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Low-worm, That Turmentle which bears a yellow flower. 1879 Maclear Celts v. 70 The good seed..sown in early years now bore fruit. |
b. said of earth, yielding vegetable productions, and
fig. animals, gems, metals, etc.
| 1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1137 Þe erthe ne bær nan corn. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 85 India, black Ebon and white Ivory bears. ― Eclog. iv. 29 The sacred ground Shall Weeds..refuse to bear. 1704 Addison Italy 1 The most uncultivated of 'em bear abundance of sweet Plants. |
c. absol.| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. lxxxiv. (1495) 654 The lasse Juniperus berith more frute than the more, but eyther beeryth. c 1400 Destr. Troy ii. 412 Bowes for to beire in the bare winttur..she made. Mod. A variety of apple that bears well. When does a mulberry tree begin to bear? |
43. a. Of female mammalia, and
esp. women: To bring forth, produce, give birth to (offspring).
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 13 Heo þone eaþmodon cyning bær. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 257 Þu bere þine helere. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 722 Sarray non childre ne bar. a 1300 Cursor M. 1051 Þe formast barn þat sco him bare. Ibid. 11211 Mary beere childe in chastite. c 1440 Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) i. xci, My dere chyldern whyche I bere as a woman bereth her chylde. 1559 Myrr. Mag., Dk. York xi, Fower goodly boyes in youth my wife she boore. 1611 Bible Lev. xii. 5 If she beare a maid child. 1855 Kingsley Heroes i. (1868) 2 Your daughter Danae shall bear a son. |
b. absol.| 1382 Wyclif Isa. liv. 1 Preise, thou bareyne that berst not. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 201 Women are made to beare, and so are you. 1611 Bible Gen. xxx. 9 She had left bearing. |
44. The various forms of the
pa. pple. had formerly no distinction of sense. In the earlier part of the 17th c., these were
borne (usual),
born,
bore (rare). About 1660,
borne (the only spelling in
Shakes. folio of 1623) was generally abandoned, and
born (
cf. torn,
worn) retained in all senses, with
bore as a frequent variant (the latter perhaps not in sense of
nātus). Dr. Johnson, in his various
edd. from 1751 to 1773, says under
bear, ‘part.
pass. bore or
born,’ and the same is found in other dicts. and grammars of the period. But
c 1775, a different usage (which some writers or printers had observed as early as 1750) was established:
bore (common in Addison, Swift, Thomson) was abandoned,
borne was reinstated, and now used as the ordinary form, and
born was restricted to a specific sense. Thus,
borne is now the only
pa. pple., active or passive, in senses 1–42 (he has
borne a burden, the tree has
borne fruit, the testimony
borne by him); it is also used in sense 43 in the active always, and in the passive with
by and name of the mother, that is when it has the literal sense of ‘brought forth.’
Born is used only in sense 43, and there only in the passive, when not followed by
by and the mother; it has rather a neuter signification
= ‘come into existence, sprung’ without explicit reference to maternal action; hence it is the form used adjectively, and figuratively.
Cf. ‘She had
borne several children, the children
borne to him by this woman,
born of the Virgin Mary,
born in a stable, her first-
born son, a lady
born, new-
born zeal, a flower
born to blush unseen.’
a. In senses 1–42, the following forms appear incidentally under the quotations.
Before
1660:
boren, 1380, 1398;
bore, 1300, 1482, 1567;
born, 1300, 1375, 1380, 1382, 1400, 1449, 1611;
borne, 1400, 1439, 1528, 1539, 1586, 1593, 1596, 1611, 1625, 1631.
After
1660:
born, 1667, 1674, 1680, 1704, 1740, 1769, 1818 (34);
bore, 1712, 1751, 1768;
borne, 1758, 1788, 1793, 1795, 1802, 1803, 1816, 1849, and twenty later.
b. In sense 43; before 1660:
| a. a 1067 Chart. Eadw. in Cod. Dipl. IV. 215 Ðat cotlif ðe ic was boren inne bi naman Giðslepe. c 1230 Ancr. R. 158 Al were he..of barain iboren. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1707 Of rachel iosep was boren. 1297 R. Glouc. 516 Thei he were a bast ibore. a 1300 Cursor M. 4966 ‘Allas!’..þat euer we ware Born. Ibid. 10977 Till þat he be borin. c 1300 Harrow. Hell 186 That of me Shulde suche a child ybore be. Ibid. 198 David..That bore was of thyn ofspring. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 94 Never, sethe tyme that she was bor. 1382 Wyclif Isa. xlvi. 3 That ben born [1388 borun] of my wombe. c 1386 Chaucer Sir Thopas 7 I-bore he was in fer contre. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. ii. ix. 62 Or Jesus wes of Mary born. c 1425 MS. Christ was..of Virgin Marie ebore. 1470 Harding Chron. x. iv, His mother dyed..Anone after as he was of hir bore. 1513 Douglas æneis x. Prol. 41 The Fader of nane generat, creat, ne boyr. 1576 Gascoigne Steele Gl. (Arb.) 61 O Gentle blouds yborne You were not borne alonely for your selues. 1589 Warner Alb. Eng. v. xxviii. (1597) 138 Full deere they were to me vnborne, at birth, and borne, and now. a 1593 H. Smith Wks. (1867) II. 65 Leah having borne to Jacob four sons. 1595 Spenser Col. Clout 839 Long before the world he was ybore. 1596 ― F.Q. i. xi. 51 That was both borne and bred In hevenly throne. 1611 Bible Gen. xxi. 7, I haue borne him a sonne in his old age. 1612 Bacon Death, Ess. (Arb.) 388 It is as naturall to dye, as to be borne. 1614 J. Cooke Tu Quoque in Dodsl. (1780) VII. 19 A wench that has been bred and born in an alley. |
Since 1660:
| β 1676 Hobbes Iliad i. 397, I have born you to Short life. 1695 Dryden in Macaulay Ess. (1854) II. 581/1 Whom I foresee to better fortune born. 1703 Rowe Ulyss. i. i. 231 Wherefore art thou born..Thou Tyrant born to be a Nation's Punishment? 1805 H. Tooke Purley ii. (1815) 76 Born..formerly written boren, and on other occasions now written borne. Born is, Borne into life. 1830 Carlyle Misc. (1857) II. 149 She saw..that she, even she, had born [sic] a mighty man. 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. (1864) II. iv. viii. 397 The porphyry chamber in which Irene had borne him—her firstborn son. 1879 Froude Cæsar xviii. 299 A child which Julia had borne to Pompey. |
| b. fig. 1774 Burke Amer. Tax. Wks. 1842 II. 432 These distinctions, born of our unhappy contest. 1853 Kingsley Hypatia Pref. 8 The Roman Empire and the Christian Church, born into the world almost at the same moment. 1866 B. Taylor Palm & Pine 268 What time the morning-star is born. 1875 H. E. Manning Mission H. Ghost i. 21 Living as if they had never been born again. |
Phrase-key. To
b about, 3 a;
b across, 1 f;
b against, 31;
b arms against, 6 a;
b at, 29;
b away, 3 a, 15 b, 36, 37;
b back, 36;
b in Backgammon, 1 d;
b a blow, 3 d;
b the breech, 6 b, bring to
b, 33;
b children, 43;
b company, 3 d;
b the cost, 12;
b down, 27, 28, 30, 36;
b down upon, 37;
b the face, 3 c;
b fellowship, 3 d;
b forth, 3 a;
b fruit, 42;
b a hand, 3 d;
b in, on hand, 3 e;
b hard, 16, 29 b;
b the heart, 3 c;
b heavily, 16, 29 b;
b in upon one, 34;
b it, 3 f;
b interest, 7 c;
b low sail, 3 b;
b in mind, 2 b;
b a name, 7 b;
b off, 3 a, 26 b, 34, (
Naut.) 37;
b on, 29, 30 c, 31, 32, 36;
b oneself, 4;
b oneself upon, 19;
b out, 3 a, 15 b, 41;
b over, 3 a;
b part in, 12 b;
b person of, 12 b;
b = produce, 42–3;
b record, 2 c;
b a rein, 18 b;
b on shield, 6 c;
b upon spleen, 16;
b strain, 13;
b sway or swing, 8;
b testimony, 2 c;
b through, 35;
b to, 29;
b up, 3 a, 18, 21, (
Naut.) 37;
b up for, 37;
b upon, 23 b, 25, 31–3;
b with, 17, (
Naut.) 37;
b witness, 2 c;
b young, 43.
▪ VIII. bear obs. form of
bier.
▪ IX. bear, v.2 (
bɛə(r))
[f. bear n.1] intr. To act the part of a ‘bear’ on the Stock Exchange; to speculate for a fall.
trans. To produce a fall in the price of (any stocks, shares, or commodities liable to speculation); also, to affect (the market) in this way.
transf. and
fig. Hence
ˈbearing vbl. n.(in
quot. attrib.).
| a 1842 W. Maginn Pict. Grave & Gay (1859) 286 His stories being..lies..I should have been sorry to have bulled or beared in Spanish on the strength of them. 1848 W. Armstrong Stocks 19 This is perhaps the grand theatre for bulling and bearing stocks. 1861 N.Y. Tribune 29 Nov. (Bartlett), His Lordship is wholly guiltless of the charge which the ‘Herald’ in its anxiety to bear the market has brought against him. 1869 Trans. Ill. Agric. Soc. VII. 431 The strong influences which were used to ‘bear’ the hog market. 1881 Chicago Times 4 June, If we succeed in bulling silver we shall also succeed in bearing gold to the same extent. 1884 Pall Mall G. 8 Mar. 5 Mr. Gladstone's speech on Egypt ‘beared’ Egyptian Stock yesterday. 1887 Ibid. 26 Nov. 12 Bulling and Bearing Men's Lives. 1887 Century Mag. XXIII. 500 Even the best regulated thermometer will have its vagaries, and there is no protection against it when it does ‘bear’ the weather. 1897 Daily News 26 Apr. 5/4 ‘Bearing’ influences are encouraged, and those whose interest is in forcing down prices are very active in that direction. |