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
  • That pressures the economy because higher yields make borrowing money more expensive for everyone, while also undercutting prices for stocks and other investments.
    — Stan Choe, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026
  • 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
Definition of pressures
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
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 3 Oct. 2026.

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