without covering or clothing; naked; nude: bare legs.
2.
without the usual furnishings, contents, etc.: bare walls.
3.
open to view; unconcealed; undisguised: his bare dislike of neckties.
4.
unadorned; bald; plain: the bare facts.
5.
(of cloth) napless or threadbare.
6.
scarcely or just sufficient; mere: the bare necessities of life.
7.
Obsolete. with the head uncovered; bareheaded.
–verb (used with object)
8.
to open to view; reveal or divulge: to bare one's arms; to bare damaging new facts.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME; OE bær; c. OFris ber, D baar, OS, OHG, G bar, ON berr, Lith bãsas barefoot, Russ bos; akin to Armenian bok naked]
—Related forms
barish, adjective
bareness, noun
—Synonyms 1. undressed. 2. plain, stark, empty, barren. Bare,stark,barren share the sense of lack or absence of something that might be expected. Bare, the least powerful in connotation of the three, means lack of expected or usual coverings, furnishings, or embellishments: bare floor, feet, head. Stark implies extreme severity or desolation and resultant bleakness or dreariness: a stark landscape; a stark, emotionless countenance. Barren carries a strong sense of sterility and oppressive dullness: barren fields; a barren relationship. 6.See mere1. 8. uncover, expose.
to hold up; support: to bear the weight of the roof.
2.
to hold or remain firm under (a load): The roof will not bear the strain of his weight.
3.
to bring forth (young); give birth to: to bear a child.
4.
to produce by natural growth: a tree that bears fruit.
5.
to hold up under; be capable of: His claim doesn't bear close examination.
6.
to press or push against: The crowd was borne back by the police.
7.
to hold or carry (oneself, one's body, one's head, etc.): to bear oneself erectly.
8.
to conduct (oneself): to bear oneself bravely.
9.
to suffer; endure; undergo: to bear the blame.
10.
to sustain without yielding or suffering injury; tolerate (usually used in negative constructions, unless qualified): I can't bear your nagging. I can hardly bear to see her suffering so.
11.
to be fit for or worthy of: It doesn't bear repeating.
12.
to carry; bring: to bear gifts.
13.
to carry in the mind or heart: to bear love; to bear malice.
14.
to transmit or spread (gossip, tales, etc.).
15.
to render; afford; give: to bear witness; to bear testimony.
16.
to lead; guide; take: They bore him home.
17.
to have and be entitled to: to bear title.
18.
to exhibit; show: to bear a resemblance.
19.
to accept or have, as an obligation: to bear responsibility; to bear the cost.
20.
to stand in (a relation or ratio); have or show correlatively: the relation that price bears to profit.
21.
to possess, as a quality or characteristic; have in or on: to bear traces; to bear an inscription.
22.
to have and use; exercise: to bear authority; to bear sway.
–verb (used without object)
23.
to tend in a course or direction; move; go: to bear west; to bear left at the fork in the road.
24.
to be located or situated: The lighthouse bears due north.
25.
to bring forth young or fruit: Next year the tree will bear.
—Verb phrases
26.
bear down,
a.
to press or weigh down.
b.
to strive harder; intensify one's efforts: We can't hope to finish unless everyone bears down.
c.
Nautical. to approach from windward, as a ship: The cutter was bearing down the channel at twelve knots.
27.
bear down on or upon,
a.
to press or weigh down on.
b.
to strive toward.
c.
to approach something rapidly.
d.
Nautical. to approach (another vessel) from windward: The sloop bore down on us, narrowly missing our stern.
28.
bear off,
a.
Nautical. to keep (a boat) from touching or rubbing against a dock, another boat, etc.
b.
Nautical. to steer away.
c.
Backgammon. to remove the stones from the board after they are all home.
29.
bear on or upon, to affect, relate to, or have connection with; be relevant to: This information may bear on the case.
30.
bear out, to substantiate; confirm: The facts bear me out.
31.
bear up, to endure; face hardship bravely: It is inspiring to see them bearing up so well.
32.
bear with, to be patient or forbearing with: Please bear with me until I finish the story.
—Idiom
33.
bring to bear, to concentrate on with a specific purpose: Pressure was brought to bear on those with overdue accounts.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME beren, OE beran; c. OS, OHG beran, D baren, OFris, ON bera, Goth bairan, G (ge)bären, Russ berët (he) takes, Albanian bie, Tocharian pär-, Phrygian ab-beret (he) brings, L ferre, OIr berid (he) carries, Armenian berem, Gk phérein, Skt bhárati, Avestan baraiti; < IE *bher- (see -fer, -phore]
—Synonyms 1. uphold, sustain. 4. yield. 6. thrust, drive, force. 10. brook, abide, suffer. Bear,stand,endure refer to supporting the burden of something distressing, irksome, or painful. Bear and stand are close synonyms and have a general sense of withstanding: to bear a disappointment well; to stand a loss. Endure implies continued resistance and patience in bearing through a long time: to endure torture.
—Usage note Since the latter part of the 18th century, a distinction has been made between born and borne as past participles of the verb bear1. Borne is the past participle in all senses that do not refer to physical birth: The wheatfields have borne abundantly this year. Judges have always borne a burden of responsibility. Borne is also the participle when the sense is “to bring forth (young)” and the focus is on the mother rather than on the child. In such cases, borne is preceded by a form of have or followed by by: Anna had borne a son the previous year. Two children borne by her earlier were already grown. When the focus is on the offspring or on something brought forth as if by birth, born is the standard spelling, and it occurs only in passive constructions: My friend was born in Ohio. No children have been born at the South Pole. A strange desire was born of the tragic experience. Born is also an adjective meaning “by birth,” “innate,” or “native”: born free; a born troublemaker; Mexican-born.
O.E. bær "naked, uncovered," from P.Gmc. *bazaz (cf. Ger. bar, O.N. berr, Du. baar), from PIE *bhosos (cf. Arm. bok "naked;" O.C.S. bosu, Lith. basas "barefoot"). Meaning "sheer, absolute" (1205) is from the notion of "complete in itself." The verb is O.E. barian.
completely unclothed; "bare bodies"; "naked from the waist up"; "a nude model"
2.
lacking in amplitude or quantity; "a bare livelihood"; "a scanty harvest"; "a spare diet"
3.
not having a protective covering; "unsheathed cables"; "a bare blade" [syn: unsheathed] [ant: sheathed]
4.
lacking its natural or customary covering; "a bare hill"; "bare feet" [ant: covered]
5.
just barely adequate or within a lower limit; "a bare majority"; "a marginal victory"
6.
apart from anything else; without additions or modifications; "only the bare facts"; "shocked by the mere idea"; "the simple passage of time was enough"; "the simple truth"
7.
lacking a surface finish such as paint; "bare wood"; "unfinished furniture"
8.
providing no shelter or sustenance; "bare rocky hills"; "barren lands"; "the bleak treeless regions of the high Andes"; "the desolate surface of the moon"; "a stark landscape"
9.
having everything extraneous removed including contents; "the bare walls"; "the cupboard was bare"
10.
lacking embellishment or ornamentation; "a plain hair style"; "unembellished white walls"; "functional architecture featuring stark unornamented concrete" [syn: plain]
verb
1.
lay bare; "bare your breasts"; "bare your feelings"
2.
make public; "She aired her opinions on welfare" [syn: publicize]
Bal"last\, n. [D. ballast; akin to Dan. baglast, ballast, OSw. barlast, Sw. ballast. The first part is perh. the same word as E. bare, adj.; the second is last a burden, and hence the meaning a bare, or mere, load. See Bare, a., and Last load.]1. (Naut.) Any heavy substance, as stone, iron, etc., put into the hold to sink a vessel in the water to such a depth as to prevent capsizing. 2. Any heavy matter put into the car of a balloon to give it steadiness. 3. Gravel, broken stone, etc., laid in the bed of a railroad to make it firm and solid. 4. The larger solids, as broken stone or gravel, used in making concrete. 5. Fig.: That which gives, or helps to maintain, uprightness, steadiness, and security. It [piety] is the right ballast of prosperity. --Barrow. Ballast engine, a steam engine used in excavating and for digging and raising stones and gravel for ballast. Ship in ballast, a ship carring only ballast.
Bare\, a. [OE. bar, bare, AS. b[ae]r; akin to D. & G. baar, OHG. par, Icel. berr, Sw. & Dan. bar, OSlav. bos? barefoot, Lith. basas; cf. Skr. bh[=a]s to shine ?.]1. Without clothes or covering; stripped of the usual covering; naked; as, his body is bare; the trees are bare. 2. With head uncovered; bareheaded. When once thy foot enters the church, be bare. --Herbert. 3. Without anything to cover up or conceal one's thoughts or actions; open to view; exposed. Bare in thy guilt, how foul must thou appear! --Milton. 4. Plain; simple; unadorned; without polish; bald; meager. "Uttering bare truth." --Shak. 5. Destitute; indigent; empty; unfurnished or scantily furnished; -- used with of (rarely with in) before the thing wanting or taken away; as, a room bare of furniture. "A bare treasury." --Dryden. 6. Threadbare; much worn. It appears by their bare liveries that they live by your bare words. --Shak. 7. Mere; alone; unaccompanied by anything else; as, a bare majority. "The bare necessaries of life." --Addison. Nor are men prevailed upon by bare of naked truth. --South. Under bare poles (Naut.), having no sail set.
Bare\, n. 1. Surface; body; substance. [R.] You have touched the very bare of naked truth. --Marston. 2. (Arch.) That part of a roofing slate, shingle, tile, or metal plate, which is exposed to the weather.
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Audio Help [bair] Pronunciation Key adjective, bar·er, bar·est, verb (used with object), bared, bar·ing. 
