brown bear

noun

: any of several chiefly brown bears that are usually considered a single species (Ursus arctos), that formerly inhabited western North America from Alaska to northern Mexico and much of Europe and Asia but are now much restricted in range, and that include the grizzly bear and Kodiak bear

Illustration of brown bear

Examples of brown bear in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

While both black and brown bears can be found in abundance during a visit, the park made waves in 1995 with the reintroduction of gray wolves, an iconic species that was extirpated from the region in the early 20th century. —Jared Ranahan, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025

Katmai National Park & Preserve, Alaska Famous for its brown bears and the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, Katmai National Park is a remote wilderness accessible mainly by plane. —Judy Koutsky, Forbes, 26 Sep. 2024

Two brown bears, a lion, a couple of yaks, five cockatoos, 25 pheasants and 40 mandarin ducks. —Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, 21 Nov. 2024

Bear 402, a female bear that was supposed to be a contestant in this year's contest, was killed by a male brown bear the day the brackets were expected to be released. —CBS News, 9 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1757, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for brown bear

• abwehr
• affair
• affaire
• airfare
• altair
• armchair
• aware
• beware
• bugbear
• carfare
• childcare
• compare

Kids Definition

brown bear

noun

: any of several bears that are mostly brown in color, are usually lumped together in a single species including the grizzly bear, and at one time inhabited much of North America from Alaska to northern Mexico as well as Europe and Asia