Blast from the Past: "bear" vs. "bare"

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In this Blast from the Past, we're going to look back at the difference between the verb forms of "bear" and "bare". This topic was originally covered in this post by whymzycal back in 2009, which highlighted some of the most commonly used definitions of bear, and compared that to the meaning bare. What we're going to do today is refresh ourselves on those differences.

As whymzycal pointed out in the original post, the verb form of bear has a lot of different meanings - the Complete OED that I looked at listed 44 in all. According to my dictionary, all these definitions can be grouped into four general meanings: to carry something; to sustain or support something; to push or press something; and to produce something. We'll look at each of these in turn.

If we bear something in the sense of carrying it, then that could be defined as:

1. to support the weight of something whilst moving it from one place to another.
2. said in reference to things immaterial, or to ideal carrying.
3. to carry about with or upon one, as material equipment or ornament.

Examples of this carrying form of bear are:

"It's called the right to bear arms, Ziva. The second ammendment to the Constitution. Didn't you have to learn that when you became a citizen?" Tony said snarkily.

"I'll bear that in mind," Ziva responded while rolling her eyes

If we use bear in the sense of supporting or sustaining something, then definitions pertinent to that meaning are:

4. to sustain or support a weight or strain.
5. to suffer, endure, or pass through.
6. to put up with, be patient with, make allowance for.

Examples which support this use of bear are:

"I'm not sure I can bear the pressure of my father's expectations much longer," Ziva said sadly.

"Bear up, Ziva," Tony said as he put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm always here if you need to talk about anything."

If we think about bear in the sense of to push or press, this could be defined as:

7. to bear off in the nautical sense.
8. to press with force or pressure against.
9. to bring about, to cause to act; to employ, exert.

Examples of using bear in this sense of pressure are:

McGee looked up to see the suspect's vehicle rapidly bearing down on where his car was blocking the road.

Director Vance looked intensely at Gibbs. "I will bring to bear every resource at my disposal to find this terrorist!"

And finally if we look at the meaning of bear as producing something, then the definitions supporting that usage are:

10. to bring forth, produce, yield.
11. to give birth to.

An example supporting this usage is:

Ziva looked at the cherry tree growing in the Navy Yard, amazed at the number of fruit it bore.

As you can see, even grouping the definitions into four general meanings, there are still a lot of things to remember for the verb bear.


By contrast, bare just has three definitions:

1. to make or lay bare, uncover, open to view.
2. to disclose, reveal make manifest.
3. To strip, divest.

Examples of bare are:

Faced with the evidence against him, the suspect chose to bare his soul, confessing not only to the crime currently under investigation, but also to several others.

Tony stared at the trees bared of their leaves by the force of the winds from the previous night's severe storm.

In summary, if you think of bare as involving some sort of exposure, and bear as carrying, supporting, pushing, or producing something, then you pretty much have it covered. I'll just have to hope that you can bear up to the pressure of my baring all of these definitions to you. :)