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

PoseSwin was trained on over 72,000 photos of 109 different brown bears taken by APU researcher Beth Rosenberg between 2017 and 2022. —Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 29 Jan. 2026

In addition, the polar bears are not competing for these food sources with other large predators, such as brown bears and wolves, Aars said. —Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 29 Jan. 2026

The researchers concluded that lesions on the boy’s skull and ankle were bite and claw marks, likely from a cave or brown bear, based on their patterns. —Sara Novak, Scientific American, 27 Jan. 2026

More than that, the park's grounds and waters are home to black and brown bears, moose, seals, puffins, otters, and, particularly in the summer, humpback whales and orcas. —Cailey Rizzo, Travel + Leisure, 21 Jan. 2026

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