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Definition of Bear down
1. Verb. Exert a force with a heavy weight. "The snow bore down on the roof"
2. Verb. Contract the abdominal muscles during childbirth to ease delivery.
3. Verb. To make a rush at or sudden attack upon, as in battle. "He saw Jess charging at him with a pitchfork"
4. Verb. Exert full strength. "The pitcher bore down"
5. Verb. Pay special attention to. "The lectures bore down on the political background"
6. Verb. Exert a force or cause a strain upon. "This tax bears down on the lower middle class"
Definition of Bear down
1. Verb. (&lit bear down) ¹
2. Verb. (nautical) To approach from windward. ¹
3. Verb. To push (someone) to the ground; to defeat, overcome. (defdate from 14th c.) ¹
4. Verb. (obsolete) To maintain one's position against (someone) in a debate; to stand one's ground against. (defdate 16th-17th c.) ¹
5. Verb. To intensify one's efforts ¹
6. Verb. (intransitive) (with '''on''') To approach in a determined manner. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Lexicographical Neighbors of Bear Down
Literary usage of Bear down
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. An exposition of the Creed by John Pearson, Edward Burton (1847)
"... them were sufficient to bear down the force of our reason, the rest would be
superfluous. First, They answer that it cannot be collected from hence that ..."
2. Obstetrics: The Science and the Art by Charles Delucena Meigs (1856)
"Women cannot bear down, at the very beginning of labor. Bearing-down means an
effort to expel, by contracting the muscles of the belly ; but when the womb ..."
3. The Diary of William Pynchon of Salem: A Picture of Salem Life, Social and by William Pynchon, Fitch Edward Oliver (1890)
"The day for Lang and the Doctor; mark the end of it; the rabble bear down the Dr.
and his cause, and shout at everything said to his prejudice. ..."
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