bears (down)

verb

present tense third-person singular of bear (down)
as in weighs (upon)

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bears (down)
  1. pressures
  2. compresses
  3. squashes
Verb
  • Fundamentally, this problem stems from science’s publish-or-perish culture, which pressures academics to constantly publish papers in prestigious journals to secure funding and advance their careers.
    — Benjamin Skuse, IEEE Spectrum, 27 Oct. 2026
  • The majority of his night was spent scrambling from a Seahawks defense that pressures the quarterback at the third-highest rate in the league.
    — Sam McDowell October 25, Kansas City Star, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of pressures
Verb
  • Boosted thrust by 50% An EDF, on the other hand, barely compresses incoming air at all.
    — Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 1 Nov. 2026
  • In New York City, for instance, the weight of buildings compresses the region’s soft soils.
    — Sanidhya Sharma, Scientific American, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of compresses
Verb
  • Designed to cut down on bulk, these cubes use a handy zipper system that squashes down the clothing inside each cube.
    — Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Luckily, this deal squashes that qualm by knocking over $300 from the sticker shocker!
    — Kelsey Fogarty, PC Magazine, 6 July 2026
Definition of squashes
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.

Browse Nearby Words

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

“Bears (down).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bears%20%28down%29. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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