"hindmost part," c.1600, abstracted from rerewarde "rear guard" (c.1300), from Anglo-Fr. rerewarde, O.Fr. rieregarde, from O.Fr. riere (from L. retro "back, behind") + O.Fr. garde (see guard). Or the word may be an aphetic form of arrear (see arrears). Military sense of "hindmost part" of an army or fleet is recorded from 1606. As a euphemism for "buttocks" it is attested from 1796 (rear end in this sense recorded from 1937). Rear admiral is first attested 1587, apparently so called from ranking "behind" an admiral proper. Rear-view (mirror) is recorded from 1926.
O.E. ræran "to raise, build up, set on end," from P.Gmc. *raizijanau "to raise," causative of *risanan "to rise" (see raise). Meaning "bring into being, bring up" (as a child) is recorded from c.1420; that of "raise up on the hind legs" is first recorded 1375.
located in or toward the back or rear; "the chair's rear legs"; "the rear door of the plane"; "on the rearward side"
noun
1.
the back of a military formation or procession; "infantrymen were in the rear" [ant: head]
2.
the side of an object that is opposite its front; "his room was toward the rear of the hotel" [ant: forepart]
3.
the part of something that is furthest from the normal viewer; "he stood at the back of the stage"; "it was hidden in the rear of the store" [syn: back] [ant: front]
4.
the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on; "he deserves a good kick in the butt"; "are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?" [syn: buttocks]
5.
the side that goes last or is not normally seen; "he wrote the date on the back of the photograph" [ant: front]
verb
1.
stand up on the hind legs, of quadrupeds; "The horse reared in terror"
2.
bring up; "raise a family"; "bring up children"
3.
rise up; "The building rose before them" [syn: rise]
4.
cause to rise up
5.
construct, build, or erect; "Raise a barn" [syn: raise] [ant: dismantle]
Ar*rear"\, adv. [OE. arere, OF. arere, ariere, F. arri[`e]re, fr. L. ad + retro backward. See Rear.] To or in the rear; behind; backwards. [Obs.] --Spenser.
Raise\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Raised; p. pr. & vb. n. Raising.] [OE. reisen, Icel. reisa, causative of r[=i]sa to rise. See Rise, and cf. Rear to raise.]1. To cause to rise; to bring from a lower to a higher place; to lift upward; to elevate; to heave; as, to raise a stone or weight. Hence, figuratively: (a) To bring to a higher condition or situation; to elevate in rank, dignity, and the like; to increase the value or estimation of; to promote; to exalt; to advance; to enhance; as, to raise from a low estate; to raise to office; to raise the price, and the like. This gentleman came to be raised to great titles. --Clarendon. The plate pieces of eight were raised three pence in the piece. --Sir W. Temple. (b) To increase the strength, vigor, or vehemence of; to excite; to intensify; to invigorate; to heighten; as, to raise the pulse; to raise the voice; to raise the spirits or the courage; to raise the heat of a furnace. (c) To elevate in degree according to some scale; as, to raise the pitch of the voice; to raise the temperature of a room. 2. To cause to rise up, or assume an erect position or posture; to set up; to make upright; as, to raise a mast or flagstaff. Hence: (a) To cause to spring up from recumbent position, from a state of quiet, or the like; to awaken; to arouse. They shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. --Job xiv. 12. (b) To rouse to action; to stir up; to incite to tumult, struggle, or war; to excite. He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind. --Ps. cvii. 25. [AE]neas . . . employs his pains, In parts remote, to raise the Tuscan swains. --Dryden. (c) To bring up from the lower world; to call up, as a spirit from the world of spirits; to recall from death; to give life to. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead ? --Acts xxvi. 8. 3. To cause to arise, grow up, or come into being or to appear; to give to; to originate, produce, cause, effect, or the like. Hence, specifically: (a) To form by the accumulation of materials or constituent parts; to build up; to erect; as, to raise a lofty structure, a wall, a heap of stones. I will raise forts against thee. --Isa. xxxix. 3. (b) To bring together; to collect; to levy; to get together or obtain for use or service; as, to raise money, troops, and the like. "To raise up a rent." --Chaucer. (c) To cause to grow; to procure to be produced, bred, or propagated; to grow; as, to raise corn, barley, hops, etc.; toraise cattle. "He raised sheep." "He raised wheat where none grew before." --Johnson's Dict. Note: In some parts of the United States, notably in the Southern States, raise in also commonly applied to the rearing or bringing up of children. I was raised, as they say in Virginia, among the mountains of the North. --Paulding. (d) To bring into being; to produce; to cause to arise, come forth, or appear; -- often with up. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee. --Deut. xviii. 18. God vouchsafes to raise another world From him [Noah], and all his anger to forget. --Milton. (e) To give rise to; to set agoing; to occasion; to start; to originate; as, to raise a smile or a blush. Thou shalt not raise a false report. --Ex. xxiii. 1. (f) To give vent or utterance to; to utter; to strike up. Soon as the prince appears, they raise a cry. --Dryden. (g) To bring to notice; to submit for consideration; as, to raise a point of order; to raise an objection. 4. To cause to rise, as by the effect of leaven; to make light and spongy, as bread. Miss Liddy can dance a jig, and raise paste. --Spectator. 5. (Naut.) (a) To cause (the land or any other object) to seem higher by drawing nearer to it; as, to raise Sandy Hook light. (b) To let go; as in the command, Raise tacks and sheets, i. e., Let go tacks and sheets. 6. (Law) To create or constitute; as, to raise a use that is, to create it. --Burrill. To raise a blockade (Mil.), to remove or break up a blockade, either by withdrawing the ships or forces employed in enforcing it, or by driving them away or dispersing them. To raise a check, note, bill of exchange, etc., to increase fraudulently its nominal value by changing the writing, figures, or printing in which the sum payable is specified. To raise a siege, to relinquish an attempt to take a place by besieging it, or to cause the attempt to be relinquished. To raise steam, to produce steam of a required pressure. To raise the wind, to procure ready money by some temporary expedient. [Colloq.] To raise Cain, or To raise the devil, to cause a great disturbance; to make great trouble. [Slang] Syn: To lift; exalt; elevate; erect; originate; cause; produce; grow; heighten; aggravate; excite.
Rear\, n. [OF. riere behind, backward, fr. L. retro. Cf. Arrear.]1. The back or hindmost part; that which is behind, or last on order; -- opposed to front. Nipped with the lagging rear of winter's frost. --Milton. 2. Specifically, the part of an army or fleet which comes last, or is stationed behind the rest. When the fierce foe hung on our broken rear. --Milton.
Rear\, a. Being behind, or in the hindmost part; hindmost; as, the rear rank of a company. Rear admiral, an officer in the navy, next in rank below a vice admiral, and above a commodore. See Admiral. Rear front (Mil.), the rear rank of a body of troops when faced about and standing in that position. Rear guard (Mil.), the division of an army that marches in the rear of the main body to protect it; -- used also figuratively. Rear line (Mil.), the line in the rear of an army. Rear rank (Mil.), the rank or line of a body of troops which is in the rear, or last in order. Rear sight (Firearms), the sight nearest the breech. To bring up the rear, to come last or behind.
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