▪ I. bare, a., adv., n.
(bɛə(r))
Forms: 1 bær, 3 bar, 4–5 baar (5–8 Sc. bair), 2– bare.
[Common Teut.: OE. bær (= OS., OHG., MHG. bar, MDu. baer, G. and Du. baar, ON. berr, Da., Sw. bar):—OTeut. *baz-oz, cogn. w. Lith. basas, OSlav. bosŭ barefoot; Aryan *bhos-ós. The original short vowel is lengthened in mod.Eng., Du., and Ger.]
A. adj. I. Without covering.
1. a. Of the body or its parts: Unclothed, naked, nude.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. (Grein) 783 Bare hie ᵹesáwon heora lichoman. 1297 R. Glouc. 514 Manie in hor bare fless hom late croici vaste. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 900 On hir bare knees adoun they falle. c 1400 Destr. Troy xxx. 12269 Founden bare in his bed. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 252 Lay bare your bosome. 1611 Bible Isa. xlvii. 2 Make bare the legge, vncouer the thigh. 1713 Steele Englishm. No. i. 2 He filled my Hat..and then put it upon my bare Head. 1853 Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.) 229 Robbers, who stripped him as bare as my hand. |
b. Stripped to the shirt or other under-garment; cf. naked, Gr. γυµνός.
| 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 161 Bare in serke and breke Isaac oway fled. 1866 Kingsley Herew. xiv. 181 You bid him go and fight in his bare shirt. |
† c. bare eye: cf. ‘naked eye.’ Obs.
| 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 18 Whose whole bulk to the bare eye is quite indiscernable. 1790 J. Imison Sch. Art. I. 263 Holds his finger..between his bare eye and an object. |
2. With the head uncovered. arch. = bare-headed.
| c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 685 Dischevele, sauf his cappe, he rood al bare. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. ix. 44 How many then should couer that stand bare? 1633 G. Herbert Ch. Porch. lxviii, When once thy foot enters the church, be bare. a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. III. xvi. 594 They all stood bare, whilst the Heraulds proclaim'd the King. |
3. fig. Unconcealed, undisguised, open to view.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. v. 46 Ah ne & bær-suinniᵹo ðis doas? 1526 Tindale Heb. iv. 13 All thynges are naked and bare unto the eyes off hym. 1671 Milton Samson 902 Bare in thy guilt how foul must thou appear! 1781 Cowper Charity 494 He hides behind a magisterial air His own offences, and strips others bare. 1827 Keble Chr. Y. 4 S. Lent xii, Bare to the rude world's withering view. |
4. Of natural objects, as earth, heavens, trees: Without such covering as they have at other times, e.g. without vegetation, clouds, bark, foliage, etc.
| c 885 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiv. §10 Sumna on cluðum, sumne on barum sondum. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 181 Ðurh ane godliese wude in-to ane bare felde. a 1300 Cursor M. 1321 Braunches..o bark al bare. 1523 Fitzherb. Surv. xxxv. (1539) 54 They wylle eate the grounde moste barest. 1611 Bible Joel i. 7 He hath..barked my figge tree: he hath made it cleane bare. 1720 Lond. Gaz. No. 5827/1 The Country between the two Armies being eaten bare. 1806 Wordsw. Ode Immort. 13 The Moon doth with delight Look round her when the heavens are bare. 1862 Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. ii. 22 Hills which are now bare were then covered with forest. |
5. Of persons and animals: Stripped of a natural covering; deprived of hair, wool, flesh, etc.; bald.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 5165 His heued it was all bar for eild. 1387 Trevisa Higden I. 115 Golgotha is to menynge a baar scolle. c 1450 Henryson Tale of Dog 112 The Scheip..Nakit and bair, syne to the feild couth pas. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iv. i. 36 The bare scalpe of Robin Hoods fat Fryer. 1783–94 Blake Chimney-sw. 7 When your head's bare, You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair. |
6. a. Wanting appropriate covering, equipment, or array; unfurnished, uncovered.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 139 Bare eorð to bedde, and hard ston to bolstre. c 1420 Sir Amadace xiv, For his mete he wold not spare, Burdes in the halle were neuyr bare. c 1600 Rob. Hood (Ritson) xvi. 44 When others cast in their bated hooks, The bare lines into the sea cast he. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 240 It is good to use your horse to backing both saddled and bare. 1722 Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. iv. 254 Fain to lie upon the bare boards. 1810 Scott Lady of L. i. xi, Nor were these earth-born Castles bare, Nor lacked they many a banner fair. |
b. Without armour or weapons, unarmed. ? Obs.
| 1205 Lay. 17346 Þa Irisce weoren bare. c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 277 If þou craue batayl bare, Here faylez þou not to fyȝt. 1549 Cheke Hurt Sedit. (1641) 25 Yee..hewed him bare, whom yee could not hurt armed. 1604 Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 175 Men do their broken Weapons rather vse, Then their bare hands. |
c. Of cloth: Napless, threadbare. Of weapons: Unsheathed. bare poles in Naut.: masts with no sails set; also bare-poled adj., having bare poles; also transf., of trees lacking leaves or branches.
| [c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 260 With thredbare cope, as is a poure scolere.] 1483 Act 1 Rich. III, viii. Pream., Course Clothes..bare of Threde. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iv. 45 Their bare Liueries. 1604 ― Oth. v. i. 3 Weare thy good Rapier bare. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., A cloth is said to be bare or naked, when the nap is too short. 1762 Let. 11 Nov. in Ann. Reg. 1762 (ed. 5, 1787) 117/2 The ship sprung a leak, and we were obliged to lie to under bare poles. 1774 N. Cresswell Jrnl. 5 Aug. (1925) iii. 31 To furl the F.S. [i.e. fore-sail] and scud under bare pole. 1780 Coxe Russ. Disc. 130 Drove 24 hours under bare poles. 1851 Melville Moby Dick III. xxxiii. 197 The Pequod..bare-poled was left to fight a Typhoon. 1855 Tennyson Charge Light Brigade, Flash'd all their sabres bare. 1864 J. A. Grant Walk across Africa 33 Open forests of bare-poled trees. |
II. Stripped of surroundings, contents, property.
† 7. Defenceless, unprotected, deserted. Obs.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 388 Þe wule hii were in Normandye & Engelond so bare. c 1400 Destr. Troy iv. 1320 So bare leuyt, Vmfoldyng with his fos þat he ne fle might. 1551 Edw. VI. Lit. Rem. (1858) II. 353 If he found a bare company..to set upon them. |
† 8. Laid waste, desolate. Obs.
| c 1305 St. Edm. King 20 in E.E.P. (1862) 87 Robbede al þat he fond & makede þane toun bar. c 1374 Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 62 So desolate stode Thebes and so bare. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1741 Like a late-sack'd island..Bare and unpeopled. 1642 Milton Sonn. viii, To save the Athenian walls from ruin bare. |
9. Without possessions, destitute, indigent, needy; scantily furnished. Const. of, rarely in: see b.
| 1205 Lay. 3420 Þat ich bare sitte, wunnen biræued. c 1280 Sarmun 44 in E.E.P. (1862) 5 He nel noȝt leue his eir al bare. c 1480 Childe Bristowe 554 in Hazl. E.P.P. (1864) 131 First was riche and sitthen bare. 1538 Bale Thre Lawes 1084 As bare as Job. 1755 Smollett Quix. (1803) I. 233 Bare I was born, and bare I remain. 1827 Keble Chr. Y. Sexages. ix, Yet mercy hath not left us bare. |
| b. c 1220 Bestiary 144 in O.E. Misc. 5 Ðanne ðe neddre is..bare of his brest atter. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1641 Of blisse y am al bare. 1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriot. i. (1736) 16 We are bare in Historical Particulars. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. III. ix. vii. 127 Old Father Margraf..does always keep us frightfully bare in money. 1883 Ch. Times 9 Nov. 813/2 Lutheranism is more bare of the attribute of saintliness than any other creed held by a large body of Christians. |
10. Destitute or defective in various other respects: a. Without contents, empty.
| 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeless iv. 21 No þing y-lafte but the bare baggis. a 1700 Dryden (J.) A bare treasury. Nursery Rime, Mother Hubbard, When she got there the cupboard was bare. |
† b. Poor in quality, paltry, worthless. Obs.
| 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeless iv. 70 So blynde and so ballid and bare was þe reson. c 1400 Destr. Troy vi. 2502 Soche bargens are bytter, þat hafe a bare end. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 188 What bare excuses makest thou to be gone. 1596 ― 1 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 13 Such poore, such bare..attempts. |
c. Without literary or artistic effect; bald, meagre, unadorned.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy Prol. 74 Cornelius translated it..but he brought it so breff, and so bare leuyt, þat no lede might have likyng to loke þerappon. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 84 In long resting the harmonie seemeth bare. 1798 Ferriar Eng. Histor. in Illustr. Sterne 248 The bare line of general narration is so happily ornamented. |
† d. Simple, without luxury; unpolished, rude.
| 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. 72 Better it is to haue bare feeding than none at all. c 1596 Spenser (J.) Yet was their manners then but bare and plain. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 76 This bare Northren people [the Tartars]. |
† e. bare wind in Naut.: one too much ahead to fill the sails well; scant. Obs.
| 1682 Lond. Gaz. No. 1744/4 This morning sailed the whole Fleet..with a bare Wind at N.W. and by N. 1691 Ibid. No. 2671/4 Having but a bare Wind, and little of it. 1694 Luttrell Brief Rel. III. 320 The whole fleet was out of sight, with a bare wind at North. |
III. Without anything of the nature of addition.
11. Without addition, mere, simple; ― and nothing else, ― only. bare contract in Law: an unconditional promise or surrender.
| c 1200 Moral Ode 137 in Lamb. Hom. 167 Hefde he bon þer enne dei oðer twa bare tide. c 1315 Shoreham 35 Man moȝe isaued be Thorȝ bare repentaunce. 1393 Gower Conf. II. 286, I set it at no more accompt, Than wolde a bare straw amount. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 104 They taught Christ to be..but a bare Man. 1633 G. Herbert Love Unkn. 40 in Temple 122 Many drunk bare wine. 1641 Termes de la Ley 211 Bare contract, or naked promise, is where a man bargaineth or selleth his lands, or goods..and there is no recompence appointed to him for the doing thereof..This is a naked contract, and voyd in Law. 1697 C'tess D'Aunoy's Trav. (1706) 109 Who can do you hurt by bare looking on you. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 69. 5 Nature indeed furnishes us with the bare Necessaries of Life. 1769 Junius Lett. xiii. 56 A bare contradiction will have no weight. 1844 Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. xix. §6 (1862) 373 A bare majority of seven to five. |
† 12. From the idea of completeness in itself; Sheer, absolute, very, actual. Obs.
| 1205 Lay. 20876 Ich habbe hine idriuen{revsc} to þan bare dæðe. a 1330 Sire Degarré 561 Thei he be the bare qued, He schal a-doune. c 1400 Destr. Troy xxiv. 9682 With strong batell & brem till the bare night. Ibid. 10805 Born to þe burghe in the bare tyme, Honerable Ector in armes to helpe. |
IV. Comb. a. specially bare-arse, dial. name of the Little Grebe; bare-belly Austral. and N.Z., a sheep with no wool on the belly; so bare-bellied adj.; bare-board: in phr. to go on bare-board, to play without a stake on the gaming-table; bare-bone, a lean, skinny person; bare-fallow, land left fallow for a whole year; = naked fallow (see naked a. 9 d); hence as v., to leave land fallow for a whole year; bare-fallowing vbl. n.; bare-man, obs. term in Sc. Law for a bankrupt or ‘broken’ man.
| c 1875 G. L. Meredith in A. J. Harrop Adventuring in Maoriland (1935) xiii. 143 Naturally, the easiest-shorn sheep—‘bare-bellies’ and ‘bare-points’—are selected first. 1878 E. S. Elwell Boy Colonists 109 The ewes have many of them at shearing-time no wool on the legs or under the belly, and hence are called ‘bare-bellies’. Of course, these ‘bare-bellied’ ewes..are very quickly shorn. 1956 G. Bowen Wool Away! (ed. 2) 155 Bare-belly, a sheep with all the wool scraped or dropped off its belly. 1965 J. S. Gunn Terminol. Shearing Industry i. 6 Barebelly, a sheep with defective wool growth caused by a break in the fibre structure. This causes the wool to fall off the belly and legs, and the rest of the wool can be removed with a few blows or even with the hands. |
| 1831 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Agric. (ed. 2) iii. vi. 801 The expediency or inexpediency of pulverising and cleaning the soil by a bare fallow, is a question that can be determined only by experience, and not by argument. 1831 Q. Jrnl. Agric. II. 101 Some writers maintain, that bare fallowing is not necessary on any kind of soil, as judicious management will prevent an influx of weeds. 1891 R. Wallace Rural Econ. Austral. & N.Z. ix. 161 Bare-fallowing of land in place of manuring was too much practised as a means of restoration. 1961 Agric. Hist. Rev. IX. 3 A larger proportion of land was bare-fallowed. |
b. adjs. formed by bare qualifying a n., as bare-breech, bare-leg, bare-limb, bare-weight (also adv.: see 11), bare-foot, -head, equivalent in sense to: c. parasynthetic adjs. formed on prec. + -ed, as bare-armed, (having the arms bare), bare-arsed, bare-bosomed, bare-breasted, bare-breeched, bare-chested, bare-knuckled, bare legged, bare-throated, bare-walled. d. ppl. adjs. in which bare acts as a verbal complement, as bare-bitten, bare-eaten, bare-gnawn, bare-worn.
| a. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. vi. vii. §3 III. 493 To vye ready silver with the King of Spaine, when he..was fain to go on bare-board. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 358 Heere comes leane Jacke, heere comes bare-bone. 1581 Acts Jas. VI (1597) §110 To hound out bair-men and vagabounds, to the attempting of sik foull..enormities. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. Table 66 Bairman..is he quha makes cession of his gudes and geir to his creditours. a 1763 Shenstone Ess. Wks. (1765) 172 A Miser, if honest, can be only honest bare-weight. 1801 H. More Wks. VIII. 248 Such bare-weight protestants prudently condition for retaining the Popish doctrine of indulgences. |
| b. 1205 [see barefoot]. 1483 Cath. Angl. 21/1 Barlege, incaligatus. 1577 Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. in Holinsh. VI. 51 Such barebreech brats as swarme in the English pale. 1583 ― æneid 137 Baerlym swartye Pyracmon. 1587 Cens. Loyall Subj. (Collier) 25 Bareleg and barefoot they wandred. |
| c. c 1350 Will. Palerne 2767 A barlegged bold boie. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 16 To beg a breeche of a bare arst man. 1580 North Plutarch (1676) 289 He would go out bare-necked to the waste. 1595 Shakes. John v. ii. 177 In his fore-head sits A bare-rib'd death. 1647 R. Stapylton Juvenal 209 Then must bare-finger'd [= ringless] Pollio beg or fast. 1809 M. Berry Jrnl. 31 May in ‘Lewis Melville’ Berry Papers (1914) vi. 291 Such an over-dressed, bare-bosoed, painted eye-browed figure one never saw! 1814 Scott Wav. xv, Four bare-legged dairy-maids. 1828 ― F.M. Perth vi, These bare-breeched Dunniewassals. 1855 Whitman Leaves of Grass 27 Press close barebosomed night! 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets xii. 403 Stately maidens and bare-chested youths. 1924 Masefield Sard Harker i. 5 The truth man learns Fighting bare-knuckled Nature in the ring. 1927 D. H. Lawrence Morn. in Mex. 43 A bare-bosom, black-browed girl. 1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatt. xv. 276 Nowt but a bare-arsed lass. 1950 Hemingway Across River v. 29 Beyond the Sile there was nothing but bare-assed plain. 1975 Forbes (N.Y.) 1 July 34/1 As bare-breasted dancers bounced and the orchestra blared, Jim Walter, stone sober, fell sound asleep. 1986 Los Angeles Times 20 July v. 4/4, I was surprised that he didn't require that the bare-breasted statue be fitted with a brassiere. |
| d. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades Pref., Ministers..bare bitten of their Patrons. 1603 Florio Montaigne i. xxvii. (1632) 96 A subject, common, bare-worne, and wyer-drawne. 1605 Shakes. Lear v. iii. 122 By Treasons tooth bare-gnawne. 1627 May Lucan ix. 7 On their bare-eaten ground. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 308 Ev'n the bareworn common is denied. |
B. adv. [cf. Sw. bara only, Ger. baar.]
† 1. Thoroughly, completely. (Cf. A 12). Obs. rare.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 465 Ȝet breued watz hit ful bare, A meruayl among þo menne. |
2. With numeral adjs.: No more than, at most; scarcely, barely. arch. or Obs.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1573 Out-taken bare two & þenne he þe þrydde. 1597 J. Payne Royal Exch. 46 Errors..of bare 80 yeres continuans. 1678 Otway Friendsh. in F. 24 As hot-headed with my bare two Bottles, as a drunken Prentice. 1716 Lond. Gaz. 5410/4 Weighs bare ten Grains. |
C. n. [the adj. used absol.]
1. A naked part of the body; the bare skin.
| c 1300 St. Brandan 612 And helede al aboute his bodi, nas ther no bar on him bileved. c 1400 Destr. Troy xiv. 5821 Hit shot þrough..þe shire maile, to þe bare of þe body. 1526 Tindale Mark xiv. 51 Cloothed in linnen apon the bare. 1611 Beaum. & Fl. King & No K. ii. 45 If ever I touch'd any bare of her. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 29 Dec. 16/1 The downtrodden slippers tied on with string, toes out, and hardly any sole: the child is walking ‘on the bare’, as the saying is. |
| fig. c 1600 Marston (in Webster), You have touched the very bare of truth. |
† 2. A bare space or place. Obs.
| 1683–4 Gt. Frost (1844) Introd. 19 Her [Thames'] watry green [shou'd] be turn'd into a bare. 1706 Phillips, Bare, a Place without Grass, made smooth to Bowl in. |
▪ II. bare, v.
(bɛə(r))
[OE. *barian (in abarian), f. bær bare a.; cf. also bęrian, ON. bera, OHG. barôn.]
1. trans. To make or lay bare, uncover, open to view; to unsheathe (a weapon).
| a 1000 Beowulf 2482 Benc-þelu beredon. a 1300 Cursor M. 1878 Þorow a fowel..may we knaw if þe erþ barid be. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 14 The pith to bare is not thaire kynde. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. i. iii. 49 And thus vnbraced..Haue bar'd my Bosome to the Thunder-stone. a 1725 Pope Odyss. xix. 526 His tusks..the sinewy fibres tore, And bared the bone. 1876 Green Short Hist. iv. §5 (1882) 197 Earl Warrenne bared a rusty sword. 1884 Tennyson Becket 133 He bows, he bares his head. |
2. fig. To disclose, reveal, make manifest.
| [c 1000 ælfric Joshua ii. 20 Gif ð{uacu} abarast {uacu}re sprǽce.] c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1912 His fader he it gan vn-hillen & baren. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1149 Þat watz bared in Babyloyn. a 1652 Brome City Wit iv. ii, To fall out and bare one anothers secrets. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 390 Tear off reserve, and bare my swelling heart. 1822 B. Cornwall Julian Apost., They did bare the secrets of the grave. |
3. To strip, divest. Const. of, from.
| c 1440 Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) ii. xx, Vntyll a soule can..baren [bareyn 1533] hym from all the good dedes that he dooth. 1443 Hen. VI in Ellis Orig. Lett. iii. 34 I. 80 Werres..haue bared vs gretely of tresore. 1563 Sackville Myrr. Mag. Induct. 2 With blustring blastes had al ybared the treen. 1857 Livingstone Trav. xix. 367 He quite bared his garden in feeding us. 1858 J. Martineau Stud. Chr. 42 Stripped of every disguise, and bared of all that is conventional. |
▪ III. bare
obs. form of boar, bear.