1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

bears (down)

verb

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

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bears (down)
  1. pressures
  2. compresses
  3. squashes
Verb
  • High inflation also pressures the Fed to reduce the money supply by increasing interest rates, making cheap credit harder to get.
    — Jim Edwards, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2026
  • If a message pressures you to donate immediately, verify your identity or click a link before a deadline, avoid using the link in the email when anything feels off.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of pressures
Verb
  • Christmas tree pins have a tiered configuration that compresses rather than pierces the ground (a win for modern synthetic or Mondo tracks).
    — Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 10 Sep. 2026
  • As the spacecraft strikes the air, the gas in front of it compresses rapidly and heats up.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 9 Sep. 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)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bears (down).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bears%20%28down%29. Accessed 19 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of aggrandize

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All