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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Bear


BEAR, verb transitive preterit tense bore; participle passive born, borne. [Latin fero, pario, porto. The primary sense is to throw out, to bring forth, or in general, to thrust or drive along. ]

1. To support; to sustain; as, to bear a weight or burden.

2. To carry; to convey; to support and remove from place to place; as, 'they bear him upon the shoulder; ', 'the eagle beareth them on her wings.'

3. To wear; to bear as a mark of authority or distinction; as, to bear a sword, a badge, a name; to bear arms in a coat.

4. To keep afloat; as, the water bears a ship.

5. To support or sustain without sinking or yielding; to endure; as, a man can bear severe pain or calamity; or to sustain with proportionate strength, and without injury; as, a man may bear stronger food or drink.

6. To entertain; to carry in the mind; as, to bear a great love for a friend; to bear inveterate hatred to gaming.

7. To suffer; to undergo; as, to bear punishment.

8. To suffer without resentment, or interference to prevent; to have patience; as, to bear neglect or indignities.

9. To admit or be capable of; that is, to suffer or sustain without violence, injury, or change; as, to give words the most favorable interpretation they will bear

10. To bring forth or produce, as the fruit of plants, or the young of animals; as, to bear apples; to bear children.

11. To give birth to, or be the native place of.

Here dwelt the man divine whom Samos bore.

12. To possess and use as power; to exercise; as, to bear sway.

13. To gain or win.

Some think to bear it by speaking a great word. [Not now used. The phrase now used is, to bear away.]

14. To carry on, or maintain; to have; as, to bear a part in conversation.

15. To show or exhibit; to relate; as, to bear testimony or witness. This seems to imply utterance, like the Latin fero, to relate or utter.

16. To sustain the effect, or be answerable for; as, to bear the blame.

17. To sustain, as expense; to supply the means of paying; as, to bear the charges, that is, to pay the expenses.

18. To be the object of.

Let me but bear your love, and I'll bear your cares.

19. To behave; to act in any character; as, 'hath he borne himself penitent?'

20. To remove, or to endure the effects of; and hence to give satisfaction for.

He shall bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:11. Hebrews 9:28.

To bear the infirmities of the weak, to bear one another's burdens, is to be charitable towards their faults, to sympathize with them, and to aid them in distress.

To bear off, is to restrain; to keep from approach; and in seamanship, to remove to a distance; to keep clear from rubbing against any thing; as, to bear off a blow; to bear off a boat; also, to carry away; as, to bear off stolen goods.

To bear down, is to impel or urge; to overthrow or crush by force; as, to bear down an enemy.

To bear down upon, to press to overtake; to make all sail to come up with.

To bear hard, is to press or urge.

Cesar doth bear me hard.

To bear on, is to press against; also to carry forward, to press, incite or animate.

Confidence hath borne thee on.

To bear through, is to conduct or manage; as, 'to bear through the consulship.' B.Jonson. Also, to maintain or support to the end; as, religion will bear us through the evils of life.

To bear out, is to maintain and support to the end; to defend to the last.

Company only can bear a man out in an ill thing.

To bear up, to support; to keep from falling.

Religious hope bears up the mind under sufferings.

To bear up, to keep afloat.

To bear a body. A color is said to bear a body in painting, when it is capable of being ground so fine, and mixed so entirely with the oil, as to seem only a very thick oil of the same color. To bear date, is to have the mark of time when written or executed; as, a letter or bond bears date, Jan.6, 1811.

To bear a price, is to have a certain price. In common mercantile language, it often signifies or implies, to bear a good or high price.

To bear in hand, to amuse with false pretenses; to deceive.

I believe this phrase is obsolete, or never used in America.

To bear a hand, in seamanship, is to make haste, be quick.

BEAR, verb intransitive To suffer, as with pain.

But man is born to bear

This is unusual in prose; and though admissible, is rendered intransitive, merely by the omission of pain, or other word expressive of evil.

1. To be patient; to endure.

I cannot, cannot bear

2. To produce, as fruit; to be fruitful, in opposition to barrenness.

This age to blossom, and the next to bear

Here fruit must be understood.

3. To take effect; to succeed; as, to bring matters to bear

4. To act in any character.

Instruct me how I may bear like a true friar.

5. To be situated as to the point of compass, with respect to something else; as, the land bore E,nounE. from the ship.

6. To bear away, in navigation, is to change the course of a ship, when close hauled, or sailing with a side wind, and make her run before the wind. To bear up, is used in a like sense, from the act of bearing up the helm to the windward.

Hence, perhaps, in other cases, the expression may be used to denote tending or moving from.

7. To bear down, is to drive or tend to; to approach with a fair wind; as, the fleet bore down upon the enemy.

8. To bear in, is to run or tend towards; as, a ship bears in with the land; opposed to bear off, or keeping at a greater distance.

9. To bear up, is to tend or move towards; as, to bear up to one another; also, to be supported; to have fortitude; to be firm; not to sink; as, to bear up under afflictions.

10. To bear upon, or against, is to lean

upon or against; to act on as weight or force, in any direction, as a column upon its base, or the sides of two inclining objects against each other.

11. To bear against, to approach for attack or seizure; as, 'a lion bears against his prey.'

12. To bear upon, to act upon; as, the artillery bore upon the center; or to be pointed or situated so as to affect; as, to bring or plant guns so as to bear upon a fort, or a ship.

13. To bear with, to endure what is unpleasing; to be indulgent; to forbear to resent, oppose, or punish.

Reason would I should bear with you. Acts 18:14.

Shall not God avenge his elect, though he bear long with them? Luke 18:7.