as in to weigh (on or upon)
to push steadily against with some force
you need to bear down on that cap a bit to get it to latch tightly
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
bear down on
2 of 2phrase
as in highlight
to indicate the importance of by centering attention on
Our manager bore down on the need to meet upcoming deadlines.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bear (down on)
Verb
-
Gently press a pump or two into skin, then follow with its Tiger Grass Treatment SPF 30 (one of our favorite Korean skin-care products) for additional color-correcting.—
Kiana Murden,
Vogue,
29 Jan. 2026 -
The president pressed him to cooperate with immigration authorities, according to Walz.—
Isaac Stanley-Becker,
The Atlantic,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Spurs forward Julian Champagnie immediately shoved Vanderbilt as Fox remained between the players, trying to keep them separated.—
Oc Register,
Oc Register,
8 Jan. 2026
-
Fleury was shoved to the ice by Golden Knights winger Keegan Kolesar after sending a breakout pass and slid backward into the end boards.—
Jesse Granger,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
And in an attention economy, interpretation doesn’t stay unfilled; it gets rented by whoever can compress it fastest.—
Güney Yıldız,
Forbes.com,
24 Jan. 2026
-
This breakthrough, which earned Isomorphic founder Demis Hassabis a Nobel Prize in 2024, offered the first seismic proof that AI could compress biological research processes that once took years into mere minutes.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
23 Jan. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Bear (down on).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bear%20%28down%20on%29. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
