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Bear down   /bɛr daʊn/   Listen
verb
Bear  v. t.  (past bore, formerly bare; past part. borne, born; pres. part. bearing)  
1.
To support or sustain; to hold up.
2.
To support and remove or carry; to convey. "I 'll bear your logs the while."
3.
To conduct; to bring; said of persons. (Obs.) "Bear them to my house."
4.
To possess and use, as power; to exercise. "Every man should bear rule in his own house."
5.
To sustain; to have on (written or inscribed, or as a mark), as, the tablet bears this inscription.
6.
To possess or carry, as a mark of authority or distinction; to wear; as, to bear a sword, badge, or name.
7.
To possess mentally; to carry or hold in the mind; to entertain; to harbor "The ancient grudge I bear him."
8.
To endure; to tolerate; to undergo; to suffer. "Should such a man, too fond to rule alone, Bear, like the Turk, no brother near the throne." "I cannot bear The murmur of this lake to hear." "My punishment is greater than I can bear."
9.
To gain or win. (Obs.) "Some think to bear it by speaking a great word." "She was... found not guilty, through bearing of friends and bribing of the judge."
10.
To sustain, or be answerable for, as blame, expense, responsibility, etc. "He shall bear their iniquities." "Somewhat that will bear your charges."
11.
To render or give; to bring forward. "Your testimony bear"
12.
To carry on, or maintain; to have. "The credit of bearing a part in the conversation."
13.
To admit or be capable of; that is, to suffer or sustain without violence, injury, or change. "In all criminal cases the most favorable interpretation should be put on words that they can possibly bear."
14.
To manage, wield, or direct. "Thus must thou thy body bear." Hence: To behave; to conduct. "Hath he borne himself penitently in prison?"
15.
To afford; to be to; to supply with. "His faithful dog shall bear him company."
16.
To bring forth or produce; to yield; as, to bear apples; to bear children; to bear interest. "Here dwelt the man divine whom Samos bore." Note: In the passive form of this verb, the best modern usage restricts the past participle born to the sense of brought forth, while borne is used in the other senses of the word. In the active form, borne alone is used as the past participle.
To bear down.
(a)
To force into a lower place; to carry down; to depress or sink. "His nose,... large as were the others, bore them down into insignificance."
(b)
To overthrow or crush by force; as, to bear down an enemy.
To bear a hand.
(a)
To help; to give assistance.
(b)
(Naut.) To make haste; to be quick.
To bear in hand, to keep (one) up in expectation, usually by promises never to be realized; to amuse by false pretenses; to delude. (Obs.) "How you were borne in hand, how crossed."
To bear in mind, to remember.
To bear off.
(a)
To restrain; to keep from approach.
(b)
(Naut.) To remove to a distance; to keep clear from rubbing against anything; as, to bear off a blow; to bear off a boat.
(c)
To gain; to carry off, as a prize.
(d)
(Backgammon) To remove from the backgammon board into the home when the position of the piece and the dice provide the proper opportunity; the goal of the game is to bear off all of one's men before the opponent.
To bear one hard, to owe one a grudge. (Obs.) "Caesar doth bear me hard."
To bear out.
(a)
To maintain and support to the end; to defend to the last. "Company only can bear a man out in an ill thing."
(b)
To corroborate; to confirm.
To bear up, to support; to keep from falling or sinking. "Religious hope bears up the mind under sufferings."
Synonyms: To uphold; sustain; maintain; support; undergo; suffer; endure; tolerate; carry; convey; transport; waft.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Bear down" Quotes from Famous Books



... smaller wheels move harder and with greater difficulty than larger ones, so, in the case of the poles and yokes, the parts where the interval from centre to end is less, bear down hard upon the neck, but where the distance from the same centre is greater, they ease the burden both for draught and carriage. As in all these cases motion is obtained by means of right lines at the centre and by circles, so also farm ...
— Ten Books on Architecture • Vitruvius

... the other, handicapped by his almost helpless comrade, would stand small chance against the burly man who checked their path. But Sam, who was nearly as large in build as was his opponent, and in an even fight, would not have hesitated to bear down upon him, slipped his arm from around Chip, and prepared himself ...
— Jim Cummings • Frank Pinkerton

... a point removed from the scene of immediate operations; but two others had entered at that place, and he could see them winding among the shocks. They were paying no regard to the direction of their walk, whose vague serpentining soon began to bear down towards Henchard. A meeting promised to be awkward, and he therefore stepped into the hollow of the nearest ...
— The Mayor of Casterbridge • Thomas Hardy

... Put in Bay, when the British fleet bore up. There was some difficulty at first in clearing the islands, and the nature of the wind seemed likely to throw Perry upon the defensive, when a southeast breeze springing up, enabled him to bear down upon the enemy. This was at ten o'clock of a fine autumnal morning. Perry arranged his vessels in line, taking the lead in his flag-ship, the Lawrence, on which he now raised the signal for action, a blue flag, inscribed in large white ...
— Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 2 of 8 • Various

... South, and her mother's health was far from strong. Finally, she gave her own positive assurance that there was not the faintest foundation for the charge. Colonel Fish did not scruple to reply 'that he considered an anonymous document evidence' strong enough to bear down a lady's proffered word of honor. If, after this provocation, the spirit of the fair pleader was roused, and she spoke somewhat unadvisedly with her lips, few will be disposed to impute to her anything more than imprudence. The Provost ...
— Border and Bastille • George A. Lawrence


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