bear·ing (bâŕĭng)

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noun 

1. The manner in which one carries or conducts oneself: the poise and bearing of a champion.
2. 1. A machine or structural part that supports another part.
   2. A device that supports, guides, and reduces the friction of motion between fixed and moving machine parts.
3. Something that supports weight.
4. The part of an arch or beam that rests on a support.
5. 1. The act, power, or period of producing fruit or offspring.
   2. The quantity produced; yield.
6. Direction, especially angular direction measured from one position to another using geographical or celestial reference lines.
7. Awareness of one's position or situation relative to one's surroundings. Often used in the plural: lost my bearings after taking the wrong exit.
8. Relevant relationship or interconnection: Those issues have no bearing on our situation.
9. Heraldry A charge or device on a field.

adjective 

Architecture Designed to support structural weight: a bearing wall.

bear¹ (bâr)

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[Middle English beren, from Old English beran.]

verb: bore (bôr, bōr), borne (bôrn, bōrn) or born (bôrn), bear·ing, bears. 

transitive verb 

1. To hold up; support.
2. To carry from one place to another; transport.
3. To carry in the mind; harbor: bear a grudge.
4. To transmit at large; relate: bearing glad tidings.
5. To have as a visible characteristic: bore a scar on the left arm.
6. To have as a quality; exhibit: “A thousand different shapes it bears” (Abraham Cowley)
7. To carry (oneself) in a specified way; conduct: She bore herself with dignity.
8. To be accountable for; assume: bearing heavy responsibilities.
9. To have a tolerance for; endure: couldn't bear his lying.
10. To call for; warrant: This case bears investigation.
11. To give birth to: bore six children in five years.
12. To produce; yield: plants bearing flowers.
13. To offer; render: I will bear witness to the deed.
14. To move by or as if by steady pressure; push: “boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (F. Scott Fitzgerald)

intransitive verb 

1. To yield fruit; produce: peach trees that bear every summer.
2. To have relevance; apply: They studied the ways in which the relativity theory bears on the history of science.
3. To exert pressure, force, or influence.
4. 1. To force oneself along; forge.
   2. To endure something with tolerance and patience: Bear with me while I explain matters.
5. To extend or proceed in a specified direction: The road bears to the right at the bottom of the hill.

phrasal verbs

bear down

To advance in a threatening manner: The ship bore down on our canoe.

To apply maximum effort and concentration: If you really bear down, you will finish the task.

bear out

To prove right or justified; confirm: The test results bear out our claims.

bear up

To withstand stress, difficulty, or attrition: The patient bore up well during the long illness.

idioms

bear down on

To effect in a harmful or adverse way: Financial pressures are bearing down on them.

bear fruit

To come to a satisfactory conclusion or to fruition.

bear in mind

To hold in one's mind; remember: Bear in mind that bridges freeze before roads.

usage note

Usage Note: Thanks to the vagaries of English spelling, bear has two past participles: born and borne. Traditionally, born is used only in passive constructions referring to birth: I was born in Chicago. For all other uses, including active constructions referring to birth, borne is the standard form: She has borne both her children at home. I have borne his insolence with the patience of a saint.

synonyms:

bear¹endure, stand, abide, suffer, tolerate These verbs mean to withstand something difficult or painful. Bear pertains broadly to the capacity to withstand: “Those best can bear reproof who merit praise” (Alexander Pope) Endure specifies a continuing capacity to face pain or hardship: “Human life is everywhere a state in which much is to be endured and little to be enjoyed” (Samuel Johnson) Stand implies resoluteness of spirit: Actors who can't stand criticism shouldn't perform in public. Abide and suffer suggest the capacity to withstand patiently: She couldn't abide fools. He suffered their insults in silence. Tolerate, when applied to something other than pain, connotes reluctant acceptance: “A decent . . . examination of the acts of government should be not only tolerated, but encouraged” (William Henry Harrison)

See also: convey

See also: produce