BEAR (bore, born, borne)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bear mean? 

• BEAR (noun)
  The noun BEAR has 2 senses:

1. massive plantigrade carnivorous or omnivorous mammals with long shaggy coats and strong claws

2. an investor with a pessimistic market outlook; an investor who expects prices to fall and so sells now in order to buy later at a lower price

  Familiarity information: BEAR used as a noun is rare.

• BEAR (verb)
  The verb BEAR has 13 senses:

1. have

2. cause to be born

3. put up with something or somebody unpleasant

4. move while holding up or supporting

5. bring forth

6. take on as one's own the expenses or debts of another person

7. contain or hold; have within

8. bring in

9. have on one's person

10. behave in a certain manner

11. have rightfully; of rights, titles, and offices

12. support or hold in a certain manner

13. be pregnant with

  Familiarity information: BEAR used as a verb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BEAR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Massive plantigrade carnivorous or omnivorous mammals with long shaggy coats and strong claws

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("bear" is a kind of...):

carnivore (a terrestrial or aquatic flesh-eating mammal)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bear"):

bear cub (a young bear)

brown bear; bruin; Ursus arctos (large ferocious bear of Eurasia)

bruin (a conventional name for a bear used in tales following usage in the old epic 'Reynard the Fox')

American black bear; black bear; Euarctos americanus; Ursus americanus (brown to black North American bear; smaller and less ferocious than the brown bear)

Asiatic black bear; black bear; Selenarctos thibetanus; Ursus thibetanus (bear with a black coat living in central and eastern Asia)

ice bear; polar bear; Thalarctos maritimus; Ursus Maritimus (white bear of Arctic regions)

Melursus ursinus; sloth bear; Ursus ursinus (common coarse-haired long-snouted bear of south-central Asia)

Holonyms ("bear" is a member of...):

family Ursidae; Ursidae (bears and extinct related forms)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An investor with a pessimistic market outlook; an investor who expects prices to fall and so sells now in order to buy later at a lower price

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("bear" is a kind of...):

investor (someone who commits capital in order to gain financial returns)

Antonym:

bull (an investor with an optimistic market outlook; an investor who expects prices to rise and so buys now for resale later)

• BEAR (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Have

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

bear a signature

Hypernyms (to "bear" is one way to...):

feature; have (have as a feature)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bear"):

carry (have on the surface or on the skin)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to be born

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

bear; birth; deliver; give birth; have

Context example:

My wife had twins yesterday!

Hypernyms (to "bear" is one way to...):

bring forth; produce (bring forth or yield)

"Bear" entails doing...:

conceive (become pregnant; undergo conception)

Verb group:

bear; carry; expect; gestate; have a bun in the oven (be pregnant with)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bear"):

twin (give birth to twins)

drop (give birth; used for animals)

foal (give birth to a foal)

cub (give birth to cubs)

kitten (give birth to kittens)

lamb (give birth to a lamb)

litter (give birth to a litter of animals)

pup; whelp (give birth to (a puppy))

farrow; pig (give birth to (piglets))

fawn (have fawns)

calve; have young (give birth to (a calf))

bear; carry; expect; gestate; have a bun in the oven (be pregnant with)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Put up with something or somebody unpleasant

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

abide; bear; brook; digest; endure; put up; stand; stick out; stomach; suffer; support; tolerate

Context example:

She stuck out two years in a miserable marriage

Hypernyms (to "bear" is one way to...):

allow; countenance; let; permit (consent to, give permission)

Verb group:

suffer (experience (emotional) pain)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bear"):

pay (bear (a cost or penalty), in recompense for some action)

sit out (endure to the end)

take a joke (listen to a joke at one's own expense)

bear up (endure cheerfully)

hold still for; stand for (tolerate or bear)

accept; live with; swallow (tolerate or accommodate oneself to)

take lying down (suffer without protest; suffer or endure passively)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam cannot bear Sue

Derivation:

bearable (capable of being borne though unpleasant)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Move while holding up or supporting

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

bearing orders

Hypernyms (to "bear" is one way to...):

carry; transport (move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body)

"Bear" entails doing...:

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bear"):

frogmarch (carry someone against his will upside down such that each limb is held by one person)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Verb group:

bear (support or hold in a certain manner)

Derivation:

bearer (someone whose employment involves carrying something)

bearer (a messenger who bears or presents)

bearer (one of the mourners carrying the coffin at a funeral)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Bring forth

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

bear; turn out

Context example:

The unidentified plant bore gorgeous flowers

Hypernyms (to "bear" is one way to...):

create; make (make or cause to be or to become)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bear"):

overbear (bear too much)

fruit (bear fruit)

crop (yield crops)

seed (bear seeds)

spin off (produce as a consequence of something larger)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Also:

bear out (support with evidence or authority or make more certain or confirm)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Take on as one's own the expenses or debts of another person

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

accept; assume; bear; take over

Context example:

She agreed to bear the responsibility

Hypernyms (to "bear" is one way to...):

take (take into one's possession)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bear"):

carry the can; face the music (accept the unpleasant consequences of one's actions)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 7

Meaning:

Contain or hold; have within

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

bear; carry; contain; hold

Context example:

This can contains water

Hypernyms (to "bear" is one way to...):

include (have as a part, be made up out of)

Verb group:

contain; hold; take (be capable of holding or containing)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bear"):

retain (hold back within)

confine; enclose; hold in (close in)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 8

Meaning:

Bring in

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

bear; pay; yield

Context example:

How much does this savings certificate pay annually?

Hypernyms (to "bear" is one way to...):

bring in; clear; earn; gain; make; pull in; realise; realize; take in (earn on some commercial or business transaction; earn as salary or wages)

Domain category:

investment; investment funds (money that is invested with an expectation of profit)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bear"):

clear; net (yield as a net profit)

pay off (yield a profit or result)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 9

Meaning:

Have on one's person

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

bear; wear

Context example:

bear a scar

Hypernyms (to "bear" is one way to...):

feature; have (have as a feature)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 10

Meaning:

Behave in a certain manner

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

acquit; bear; behave; carry; comport; conduct; deport

Context example:

They conducted themselves well during these difficult times

Hypernyms (to "bear" is one way to...):

bear; carry; hold (support or hold in a certain manner)

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bear"):

fluster (be flustered; behave in a confused manner)

assert; put forward (insist on having one's opinions and rights recognized)

deal (behave in a certain way towards others)

walk around (behave in a certain manner or have certain properties)

pose; posture (behave affectedly or unnaturally in order to impress others)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

bearing (dignified manner or conduct)

Sense 11

Meaning:

Have rightfully; of rights, titles, and offices

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

bear; hold

Context example:

He held the governorship for almost a decade

Hypernyms (to "bear" is one way to...):

have; have got; hold (have or possess, either in a concrete or an abstract sense)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

bearer (the person who is in possession of a check or note or bond or document of title that is endorsed to him or to whoever holds it)

Sense 12

Meaning:

Support or hold in a certain manner

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

bear; carry; hold

Context example:

He carried himself upright

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bear"):

sling (hold or carry in a sling)

stoop (carry oneself, often habitually, with head, shoulders, and upper back bent forward)

piggyback (support on the back and shoulders)

balance; poise (hold or carry in equilibrium)

acquit; bear; behave; carry; comport; conduct; deport (behave in a certain manner)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Verb group:

bear (move while holding up or supporting)

Derivation:

bearing (characteristic way of bearing one's body)

Sense 13

Meaning:

Be pregnant with

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

bear; carry; expect; gestate; have a bun in the oven

Context example:

I am carrying his child

Hypernyms (to "bear" is one way to...):

bear; birth; deliver; give birth; have (cause to be born)

"Bear" entails doing...:

conceive (become pregnant; undergo conception)

Verb group:

bear; birth; deliver; give birth; have (cause to be born)

expect (look forward to the birth of a child)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

 Context examples 

We may come on something later which will bear upon it.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But you have taken some pains to bore the head of it and pour melted lead into the hole so as to make it a formidable weapon.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I could not bear the disgrace.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The fact that Uranus is your ruler is the reason you were born with the talent to innovate and rebel against tradition and the status quo when you feel it is necessary.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

But constancy, chastity, good sense, and good nature, were not rated, because they would not bear the charge of collecting.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

I suppose I was born that way.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

"The Pot" he honored with reading aloud, as he did "Adventure." "Joy," his latest-born, completed the day before and tossed into the corner for lack of stamps, won his keenest approbation.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Madness were easy to bear compared with truth like this.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“George Leach, sir,” came the sullen answer, and the boy’s bearing showed clearly that he divined the reason for which he had been summoned.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

This was the pride that bore up Spitz and made him thrash the sled-dogs who blundered and shirked in the traces or hid away at harness-up time in the morning.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)