The Collaborative International Dictionary
Bear \Bear\ (b[^a]r), v. i.
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To produce, as fruit; to be fruitful, in opposition to barrenness.
This age to blossom, and the next to bear.
--Dryden. -
To suffer, as in carrying a burden.
But man is born to bear.
--Pope. -
To endure with patience; to be patient.
I can not, can not bear.
--Dryden. -
To press; -- with on or upon, or against.
These men bear hard on the suspected party.
--Addison. To take effect; to have influence or force; as, to bring matters to bear.
To relate or refer; -- with on or upon; as, how does this bear on the question?
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To have a certain meaning, intent, or effect.
Her sentence bore that she should stand a certain time upon the platform.
--Hawthorne. -
To be situated, as to the point of compass, with respect to something else; as, the land bears N. by E. To bear against, to approach for attack or seizure; as, a lion bears against his prey. [Obs.] To bear away (Naut.), to change the course of a ship, and make her run before the wind. To bear back, to retreat. ``Bearing back from the blows of their sable antagonist.'' --Sir W. Scott. To bear down upon (Naut.), to approach from the windward side; as, the fleet bore down upon the enemy. To bear in with (Naut.), to run or tend toward; as, a ship bears in with the land. To bear off (Naut.), to steer away, as from land. To bear up.
To be supported; to have fortitude; to be firm; not to sink; as, to bear up under afflictions.
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(Naut.) To put the helm up (or to windward) and so put the ship before the wind; to bear away.
--Hamersly.To bear upon (Mil.), to be pointed or situated so as to affect; to be pointed directly against, or so as to hit (the object); as, to bring or plant guns so as to bear upon a fort or a ship; the artillery bore upon the center.
To bear up to, to tend or move toward; as, to bear up to one another.
To bear with, to endure; to be indulgent to; to forbear to resent, oppose, or punish.
Usage examples of "to bear upon".
He'd wanted, I suppose, to go through the whole thing with me, enjoying the role of tutor, bringing his sweet smile to bear upon the business of trading a consignment of Heckler and Koch HK91s for a dozen bags of cocaine on the dockside in Istanbul, or of buying Semtex by the square yard without blowing up the freighter.
Hardly any man brings greater variety of learning to bear upon his point.
But for tender-hearted Avarice the vacancies are too few, and so he brings his foresight to bear upon the benefices which are still occupied by their incumbents, so that they must be unfilled, even they are not unfilled.