cave bear

noun

: a very large extinct bear (Ursus spelaeus) known especially from Pleistocene deposits in European caves

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Amsterdam; and prehistoric cave bear skeletons. Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 1 Mar. 2023 A long time ago Our Stone Age ancestors likely donned cave bear fur 300,000 years ago. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 7 Jan. 2023 Among the artifacts the researchers excavated from Bacho Kiro were pendants made from cave bear teeth. Charles Choi, Discover Magazine, 19 May 2020 Miners in Germany’s Neander Valley found fossils thought to belong to a cave bear. Jonathon Keats, Discover Magazine, 4 Sep. 2015 Direct evidence of prehistoric clothing is hard to find, but archaeologists in Germany discovered cut marks on a cave bear paw that suggest the animals were skinned for their fur. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 7 Jan. 2023 Then, a few months later, another team published the genome of a cave bear from Spain. Discover Magazine, 10 Dec. 2013 During Siberian cave excavation, Russian paleontologists discovered the skull of a now-extinct small cave bear. Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 June 2021 Discovered in the uppermost level at the site, the talons and foot bone were found in the same sedimentary layer as many cave bear bones, Neandertal tools, a fragmentary child’s cranium and at least one hearth. David W. Frayer, Scientific American, 1 Feb. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cave bear.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1865, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cave bear was in 1865

Dictionary Entries Near cave bear

Cite this Entry

“Cave bear.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cave%20bear. Accessed 5 Jun. 2023.

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