“bears” is a form of
bear
UK /bɛə/ · US /bɛɚ/ noun, verb, adjective, proper noun
Forms bears bearing beared bore bare borne born bearest borest barest beareth beare bere
- noun A large, generally omnivorous mammal (a few species are purely carnivorous or herbivorous) of the family Ursidae; having shaggy fur, a very small tail, and flat feet.
- noun (cooking, uncountable) The meat of this animal. “We had barbecued bear for dinner.”
- noun (figuratively) A rough, unmannerly, uncouth person.
- noun (finance) An investor who sells commodities, securities, or futures in anticipation of a fall in prices.
- noun (CB radio, slang, US) A state policeman (short for Smokey Bear).
- noun (gay slang) A large, hairy man, especially one who is homosexual.
- noun (Australia) A koala (bear).
- noun (engineering) A portable punching machine.
- verb (finance, transitive) To endeavour to depress the price of, or prices in. “to bear a railroad stock”
- adjective (finance, investments) Characterized by declining prices in securities markets or by belief that the prices will fall. “The great bear market starting in 1929 scared a whole generation of investors.”
- verb (chiefly transitive) To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. “They came bearing gifts.”
- verb (transitive) To carry (weapons, flags or symbols of rank, office, etc.) upon one's person, especially visibly; to be equipped with (weapons, etc.). “the right to bear arms”
- verb (transitive) To wear (garments, pieces of jewellery, etc.). “The queen bore the royal scepter and crown as she processed into the hall.”
- verb (transitive, rarely intransitive, of a woman or female animal) To carry (offspring in the womb), to be pregnant (with). “The scan showed that the ewe was bearing twins.”
- verb (transitive) To have or display (a mark or other feature). “She still bears the scars from a cycling accident.”
- verb (transitive) To display (a particular heraldic device) on a shield or coat of arms; to be entitled to wear or use (a heraldic device) as a coat of arms. “The shield bore a red cross.”
- verb (transitive) To present or exhibit (a particular outward appearance); to have (a certain look). “He bore the look of a defeated man.”
- verb (transitive) To have (a name, title, or designation). “The school still bears the name of its founder.”
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun (astronomy, usually preceded by definite article) The constellation Ursa Major.
Synonyms
troublemaker police officer bruin ursid brook endure abear abide aby accept allow bide dree forbear go along with live with pass pocket pouch put up with give birth deliver birth have digest stick out stomach stand tolerate support
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English bere, from Old English bera, from Proto-West Germanic *berō, from Proto-Germanic *berô (“bear”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“brown”).
Cognate with North Frisian beer (“bear”), Saterland Frisian Boar, Boare (“bear”), West Frisian bear (“bear”), Cimbrian and Mòcheno per (“bear”), Dutch beer (“bear”), German Bär (“bear”), German Low German Boor (“bear”), Limburgish baer, Béër (“bear”), Luxembourgish Bier (“bear”), Vilamovian baor, bar (“bear”), West Flemish beir (“bear”), Yiddish בער (ber, “bear”), Danish, Faroese, and Norwegian Bokmål bjørn (“bear”), Icelandic and Swedish björn (“bear”), Norwegian Nynorsk bjøinn, bjønn, bjørn (“bear”), Gothic *𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌰 (*baira, “bear”); also Latin fiber (“beaver”), Greek φρύνος (frýnos, “toad”), Latvian bērs (“bay, brown”), Lithuanian bėras (“bay, reddish brown”), Belarusian бабёр (babjór, “beaver”), Bulgarian бобър (bobăr, “beaver”), Czech bobr (“beaver”), Macedonian дабар (dabar, “beaver”), Polish bober, bóbr (“beaver”) Russian бобёр (bobjór), бобр (bobr, “beaver”), Serbo-Croatian да̀бар, dàbar (“beaver”), Slovak bobor (“beaver”), Slovene bober (“beaver”), Ukrainian бобе́р (bobér, “beaver”), Armenian բորենի (boreni, “hyena”), Avestan 𐬠𐬀𐬡𐬭𐬀 (baβra, “beaver”), Northern Kurdish bor (“grey”), Ossetian бур (bur, “yellow”), Persian بور (bur, “blonde, fair; bay, reddish brown; brown”), Yaghnobi вур (vur, “brown”), Sanskrit बभ्रु (babhru, “ichneumon, mongoose”).
This is generally taken to be from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“shining, brown”) (compare Tocharian A parno, Tocharian B perne (“radiant, luminous”), Lithuanian bė́ras (“brown”)), related to brown, bruin, and beaver.
On this theory, the Germanic languages replaced the older name of the bear, *h₂ŕ̥tḱos, with the epithet "brown one", presumably due to taboo avoidance; compare Russian медве́дь (medvédʹ, “bear”, literally “honey-eater”).
However, Ringe (2006:106) doubts the existence of a root *bʰer- meaning "brown" ("an actual PIE word of [the requisite] shape and meaning is not recoverable") and suggests that a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰwer- (“wild animal”) "should therefore perhaps be preferred", implying a Germanic merger of *ǵʰw and *gʷʰ (*gʷʰ may sometimes result in Germanic *b, perhaps e.g. in *bidjaną, but it also seems to have given the g in gun and the w in warm).
From Middle English beren (“carry, bring forth”), from Old English beran (“to carry, bear, bring”), from Proto-West Germanic *beran, from Proto-Germanic *beraną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti, from *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”).
Akin to Old High German beran (“carry”), Dutch baren, Danish bære, Norwegian Bokmål bære, Norwegian Nynorsk bera, German gebären, Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌽 (bairan), Sanskrit भरति (bharati), Latin ferō, and Ancient Greek φέρω (phérō), Albanian bie (“to bring, to bear”), Russian брать (bratʹ, “to take”), Persian بردن (bordan, “to take, to carry”).
From Middle English bere (“pillowcase”), of obscure origin, but compare Old English hlēorbera (“cheek-cover”). Possibly cognate to Low German büre, whence German Bühre, which in turn has been compared to French bure.
* As an English surname, related to bear
* As a German surname, spelling variant of Baer and Bahr
Webster’s 1913
- verb To support or sustain; to hold up.
- verb To support and remove or carry; to convey.
- verb To produce, as fruit; to be fruitful, in opposition to barrenness.
- verb To suffer, as in carrying a burden.
Etymology [OE. beren, AS. beran, beoran, to bear, carry, produce; akin to D. baren to bring forth, G. gebären, Goth. baíran to bear or carry, Icel. bera, Sw. bära, Dan. bære, OHG. beran, peran, L. ferre to bear, carry, produce, Gr. , OSlav brati to take, carry, OIr. berim I bear, Skr. bh to bear. sq. root92. Cf. Fertile.]
Etymology [OE. bere, AS. bera; akin to D. beer, OHG. bero, pero, G. bär, Icel. & Sw. björn, and possibly to L. fera wild beast, Gr. beast, Skr. bhalla bear.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bear”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details