as in weighing (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
bearing down on
2 of 2phrase
as in highlighting
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 bearing (down on)
Verb
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Stand back up, keeping your core tight and pressing through your heels.—
RikkiLynn Shields Hannigan,
Health,
31 Jan. 2026 -
His side recovered quickly from the departures of last season’s two leading goalscorers, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, and now sit comfortably eighth on 33 points, with no pressing need for winter reinforcements.—
James McNicholas,
New York Times,
31 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Fears, who led Michigan State with 31 points, also received a flagrant foul for shoving Lendeborg from behind to prevent a breakaway dunk late in the first half.—
Austin Meek,
New York Times,
2 Feb. 2026
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Richardson appeared to grill Coleman and nudged him before shoving him into a wall, nudging him more later on.—
Jackson Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Instead of compressing observations into still images, RIMS preserves time-dependent information and separates radio signals by direction.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
1 Feb. 2026
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Such tests could be used in research toward compressing a core of uranium with explosives — something that is needed for an implosion-style nuclear weapon.—
Jon Gambrell,
Los Angeles Times,
31 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Bearing (down on).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bearing%20%28down%20on%29. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
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