bear down
verb
bore down; borne down also born down; bearing down; bears down
: to exert full strength and concentrated attention
Examples of bear down in a Sentence
you need to bear down on that cap a bit to get it to latch tightly
Recent Examples on the Web
Interstate 10 hummed with cars rushing north toward Phoenix, drivers pushing to get ahead of what was bearing down on them.
—
Hayleigh Evans, AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Instead, that came in the 68th minute, when Palace were on the counter-attack and Michael Olise, now of Bayern Munich, was bearing down on him.
—Adam Crafton, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025
The synth waves bear down on each scene like the walls of a house closing in, until the movie’s threat of sudden death almost feels like a promise of sweet relief.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 20 Aug. 2025
On one side of the country, Hurricane Erin is bearing down on the Eastern Seaboard.
—Michael Loria, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bear down
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Hayleigh Evans, AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Instead, that came in the 68th minute, when Palace were on the counter-attack and Michael Olise, now of Bayern Munich, was bearing down on him.
—Adam Crafton, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025
The synth waves bear down on each scene like the walls of a house closing in, until the movie’s threat of sudden death almost feels like a promise of sweet relief.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 20 Aug. 2025
On one side of the country, Hurricane Erin is bearing down on the Eastern Seaboard.
—Michael Loria, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bear down
Cite this Entry
“Bear down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bear%20down. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
bear down
intransitive verb
: to contract the abdominal muscles and the diaphragm during childbirth
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