bears (down on) 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of bear (down on)
as in shoves
to push steadily against with some force you need to bear down on that cap a bit to get it to latch tightly

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bears down on

2 of 2

phrase

present tense third-person singular of bear down on
as in highlights
to indicate the importance of by centering attention on Our manager bore down on the need to meet upcoming deadlines.

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bears (down on)
  1. shoves
  2. presses
  3. compresses
Verb
  • Taege shoves Maulson, who is handcuffed, and Maulson falls to the pavement, hitting his head.
    — Frank Vaisvilas, jsonline.com, 21 Sep. 2026
  • When Molly holds out her empty hand, Yvette stares at it, then shoves her dustpan under one arm, laces her fingers through Molly’s.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of shoves
Verb
  • Zelensky said Trump approved licenses for Ukraine to produce Patriot air defense systems, while Kyiv presses Washington to impose sanctions already signed into law.
    — Hanna Arhirova, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
  • The betrayal Murray inflicts on Tremblay’s Kaczynski is compelling, even as the film presses it into service as an explanation for every horror that followed.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of presses
Verb
  • Much like an engine compresses fuel before ignition, FLARE first assembles the fuel to high density before delivering a separate, rapid burst of energy to trigger fusion.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 26 Sep. 2026
  • None of that compresses into a 12-month window, no matter how well resourced the effort.
    — Shawn Cole, Forbes.com, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of compresses
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.

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bears (down)
bears (down on)
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Cite this Entry

“Bears (down on).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bears%20%28down%20on%29. Accessed 3 Oct. 2026.

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