bear

1 of 2

noun

ˈber 

plural bears

often attributive

1

or plural bear : any of a family (Ursidae of the order Carnivora) of large heavy mammals of the Americas and Eurasia that have long shaggy hair, short tails, and plantigrade feet with nonretractile claws and that are mainly omnivorous but include some that are primarily carnivorous (as the polar bear) or herbivorous (as the giant panda)

Bears in northern climates go into dens during the winter months. This behavior is an adaptation which allows the bears to avoid the harshest months when food is scarce.

—James E. Cardoza et al.

2

a

: someone who resembles a bear (as in build, gait, or temperament)

a tall, friendly bear of a man

Beau was an absolute bear in the morning—miserable and cranky …

—Eva Jacob Barkoff

b

sometimes Bear slang : a burly, hairy, and often bearded gay or bisexual man

… you'll find many self-identifying gay bears with different degrees of hair, fat, and muscle.

—Jamie Valentino

3

[probably from the proverb about selling the bearskin before catching the bear] : one that sells securities or commodities in expectation of a price decline

… bears selling previously overbought cryptocurrencies.

—Crypto Breaking News

compare bull

4

: something difficult to do or deal with

The oven is a bear to clean.

bearlike

ˈber-ˌlīk 

adjective

bear

2 of 2

verb

ˈber 

bore ˈbȯr  ; borne also born ˈbȯrn  ; bearing

transitive verb

1

a

: to accept or endure especially without succumbing : put up with

How do you bear the heat?

—usually used in questions and negative statements with can, can't, could, and couldn't

couldn't bear the loss

I can't bear seeing you cry.

Pain is a mystery. Who knows why it is visited upon us! We can only bear it.

—Zadie Smith

b

: to be worthy of (something) : to deserve or allow (something)

it bears watching

His dreams did not bear discussion.

—Hilary Mantel

c

: assume, accept

must bear the blame

The company agreed to bear the costs.

d

: to support the weight of : sustain

columns that bear the roof

e

: to hold above, on top, or aloft

a table bearing several vases

f

: to be capable of sustaining : withstand

a work that doesn't bear close scrutiny

2

a

: to move while holding up and supporting (something) : carry

arrived bearing gifts

a leaf borne away by the wind

diseases borne by rodents

b

: to have as a feature or characteristic

bears a likeness to her grandmother

still bore scars from the accident

a letter bearing the date of 1900

c

: to be equipped or furnished with (something)

a knight bearing a sword and shield

d

: to have as an identification

bore the name of John

e

: to hold in the mind or emotions

bears a grudge against the opposing team

f

: behave, conduct

bearing himself well

g

: to give as testimony

bear false witness

h

: disseminate

hate to be the one bearing bad news

i

: lead, escort

3

a

: to give birth to

bore a litter of puppies

also : to be pregnant with

bore a child for nine months

b

: to produce as yield

a bond that bears interest

c(1)

: to permit growth of

the soil bears good cotton

(2)

: contain

oil-bearing shale

4

: thrust, press

a canoe borne down the rapids

intransitive verb

1

a

: to go or incline in an indicated direction

Bear left at the fork in the road.

b

: to extend in a direction indicated or implied

a stream bearing south for several miles

c

: to be situated : lie

The land bears north by east.

d

: to become directed

brought all her imagination to bear on the project

2

a

: apply, pertain

—often used with on or upon

facts bearing on the question

b

: to exert influence or force

Pressure could come to bear on Congress to pass the law soon.

3

: to produce fruit : yield

plants that bear well

4

: to support a weight or strain

—often used with up

not sure how well the thawing pond ice will bear up

Phrases

bear a hand

: to join in and help out

bear arms

1

: to carry or possess arms

2

: to serve as a soldier

bear fruit

: to come to satisfying fruition, production, or development : to produce a desired result or reward

Their hard work will soon bear fruit.

bear in mind

: to think of (something) especially as a warning : remember

Before planting, bear in mind that some flowers prefer full sun.

bear with

: to be indulgent, patient, or forbearing with (someone)

Please bear with me while I get my equipment set up.

Did you know?

Usage Note on Bear

There is considerable confusion between the verbs bear and bare. It may help to remember that the verb bare has only one meaning: "to uncover," as in "bare your shoulders" and "a dog baring its teeth." All other uses of the verb are for bear: "bearing children," "the right to bear arms," "bearing up under the stress/weight," "can't bear the thought," "bear south," "it bears repeating."

There is occasional confusion between bear and bare in adjectival uses (as in "he rubbed his bear arms"), but bear is properly a noun and only used like an adjective in the financial phrase bear market. All other uses refer to the state of being uncovered or naked and should therefore be bare: "bare necessities," "bare essentials," "bare arms," "bare bones," "bare-knuckle," and so on.

Synonyms of bear

Noun

• headache
• job
• burden

Verb

• have
• produce
• deliver

Choose the Right Synonym for bear

bear, suffer, endure, abide, tolerate, stand mean to put up with something trying or painful.

bear usually implies the power to sustain without flinching or breaking.

forced to bear a tragic loss

suffer often suggests acceptance or passivity rather than courage or patience in bearing.

suffering many insults

endure implies continuing firm or resolute through trials and difficulties.

endured years of rejection

abide suggests acceptance without resistance or protest.

cannot abide their rudeness

tolerate suggests overcoming or successfully controlling an impulse to resist, avoid, or resent something injurious or distasteful.

refused to tolerate such treatment

stand emphasizes even more strongly the ability to bear without discomposure or flinching.

unable to stand teasing

Examples of bear in a Sentence

Noun

Traffic in Knoxville, Tennessee, can be a bear anytime, but in late spring the slowdowns on Neyland Drive are often caused by Canada geese. —Joelle Anthony, Audubon, November-December 2004

True, the rally has been around the corner since Memorial Day. But bears have dominated market sentiment for so long since the Federal Reserve Board raised interest rates last February, that traders feel the market is headed for a major tectonic shift … —Anthony Ramirez, New York Times, 19 July 1994

Hikers in the woods are far more likely to wear a bell to deter bears than to take precautions against bees. But bears kill two to seven people in North America annually, bee stings kill 600 to 900. —Allan J. Davison, Chemical & Engineering News, 15 Mar. 1993

a mother bear and her cubs

The bears outnumbered the bulls on Wall Street today.

Verb

A stone slab bearing 3,000-year-old writing previously unknown to scholars has been found in the Mexican state of Veracruz, and archaeologists say it is an example of the oldest script ever discovered in the Western Hemisphere. —John Noble Wilford, New York Times, 15 Sept. 2006

Large public buildings often bear only a loose resemblance to what was originally in the minds of the architects who designed them. Things get cut back to save money; somebody has second thoughts about the way part of the building will function; it takes so long to get public approval that the original idea starts to seem dated … —Paul Goldberger, New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2002

The most famous work of Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), of course, was purifying milk with the process that now bears his name. —Brendan Miniter, American Enterprise, September/October 1998

In so-called parking schemes, securities aren't carried on the books of the true owner but are temporarily sold to someone else with the understanding that the seller will continue to bear any risk of loss and reap any profits. —James B. Stewart, New Yorker, 8 Mar. 1993

As a science fiction buff, many years ago, I remember being particularly fascinated by tales of genetic surgery. Imagine the surgeon … peering through the electron microscope, repairing the sickle-cell gene and returning the ovum to its mother, who would then bear a normal child. —Richard Novick, New York Times Book Review, 15 Feb. 1987

The sight of Niña already there, snugged down as if she had been at home a month, finished Martín Alonso Pinzón. Older than Columbus, ill from the hardships of the voyage, mortified by his snub from the Sovereigns, he could bear no more. —Samuel Eliot Morison, The European Discovery of America, 1974

a symphony that can bear comparison with Beethoven's best

The company agreed to bear the costs.

The criminals must bear full responsibility for the deaths of these innocent people.

Who will bear the blame for this tragedy?

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Unlike bears and big cats, which kill their prey and then consume it, canines oftentimes tire their prey, bring it down, and start feasting on and around the hind quarters while the animal is still alive. —Josh Honeycutt, Outdoor Life, 30 Oct. 2025

On busy days, the loop can take several hours because of bear jams and the never-ending line of creeping cars. —AFAR Media, 30 Oct. 2025

Verb

Biannual launches have become the norm for the Shenzhou program, which has in the past year reached new milestones with the deployment of Chinese astronauts born in the 1990s, a world-record spacewalk, and plans to train and send the first foreign astronaut, from Pakistan, to Tiangong next year. —Reuters, CNN Money, 1 Nov. 2025

Beverly, a waitress who had another daughter and then a son in the two years after Smith was born (and eventually one more daughter), had little time for her eldest’s metaphysical ponderings. —Amy Weiss-Meyer, The Atlantic, 31 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English bere, from Old English bera; akin to Old English brūn brown — more at brown

Verb

Middle English beren to carry, bring forth, from Old English beran; akin to Old High German beran to carry, Latin ferre, Greek pherein

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2a

Phrases Containing bear

• ant bear
• bear a hand
• bear a resemblance
• bear arms
• bear claw
• bear down
• bear down on
• bear fruit
• bear grass
• bear hug
• bear in mind
• bear little relationship to/with
• bear market
• bear no relation to
• bear on
• bear oneself
• bear out
• bear repeating
• bear someone's name
• bear up
• bear watching
• bear with
• bear witness
• black bear
• bring to bear
• brown bear
• cave bear
• cross to bear
• grin and bear it
• grizzly bear
• Kodiak bear
• loaded for bear
• polar bear
• sloth bear
• spectacled bear
• sun bear
• teddy bear
• the traffic will bear
• water bear
• woolly bear

Rhymes for bear

• air
• ayre
• bahr
• bare
• blare
• care
• chair
• claire
• ere
• err
• eyre
• fair

Kids Definition

bear

1 of 2 noun

ˈba(ə)r 

ˈbe(ə)r

plural bears

1

or plural bear : any of a family of large heavy mammals that have long shaggy hair and small tails and feed largely on fruit, plants, and insects as well as on flesh

2

: a rude, burly, or clumsy person

a real bear in the morning

a great bear of a man

3

: a person who sells stocks or bonds in the expectation that the price will go down

bearish

ˈba(ə)r-ish

ˈbe(ə)r-

adjective

bear

2 of 2 verb

bore ˈbō(ə)r 

ˈbȯ(ə)r

; borne

ˈbō(ə)rn,

ˈbȯ(ə)rn

also born ˈbȯ(ə)rn  ; bearing

1

a

: to move while holding up and supporting : carry

the right to bear arms

arrived bearing gifts

b

: to hold in the mind

bear a grudge

c

: behave sense 1

bore himself like a gentleman

d

: to give as testimony

bear false witness

e

: to have as a feature or characteristic

bears marks of suffering

bore a resemblance to her aunt

2

a

: to give birth to

bear children

the baby was born last week

b

: to bring forth : produce

bear fruit

3

a

: to hold up : support

b

: to put up with : stand

I can't bear the suspense

c

: assume sense 1

bore the costs

bear the blame

4

: to push down on : press

bears down on her pencil

5

: to move or lie in an indicated direction

bear right at the fork in the road

6

a

: to have a relation to the matter at hand

facts bearing on the question

b

: to exercise force or influence

bring pressure to bear

Etymology

Noun

Old English bera "a bear"

Verb

Old English beran "to carry, support"

Medical Definition

bear

transitive verb

ˈba(ə)r, ˈbe(ə)r 

bore ˈbō(ə)r, ˈbȯ(ə)r  ; borne ˈbō(ə)rn, ˈbȯ(ə)rn  also born ˈbȯ(ə)rn  ; bearing

: to give birth to

Legal Definition

bear

verb

ˈbar 

bore ˈbōr  ; borne

ˈbōrn

also born

transitive verb

1

: to physically carry (as an object or message)

the right of the people to keep and bear arms

—U.S. Constitution amend. II

2

: yield

the stock will bear a dividend

3

a

: to admit of : allow

whatever price the market will bear

b

: assume, accept

you bear legal responsibility for him

intransitive verb

: to relate or have relevance

will admit evidence bearing on her defense

Geographical Definition

Bear

geographical name

ˈber 

river 350 miles (563 kilometers) long in northern Utah, southwestern Wyoming, and southeastern Idaho flowing to Great Salt Lake