rear definition | Dictionary.com

rear

1 [reer]

–noun

1.	the back of something, as distinguished from the front: The porch is at the rear of the house.

2.	the space or position behind something: The bus driver asked the passengers to move to the rear.

3.	the buttocks; rump.

4.	the hindmost portion of an army, fleet, etc.

–adjective

5.	pertaining to or situated at the rear of something: the rear door of a bus.

—Idiom

6.	bring up the rear, to be at the end; follow behind: The army retreated, and the fleeing civilian population brought up the rear.

Origin:
1590–1600; aph. var. of arrear

Synonyms:
5. See back ¹ .

rear

2 [reer]

–verb (used with object)

1.	to take care of and support up to maturity: to rear a child.

2.	to breed and raise (livestock).

3.	to raise by building; erect.

4.	to raise to an upright position: to rear a ladder.

5.	to lift or hold up; elevate; raise.

–verb (used without object)

6.	to rise on the hind legs, as a horse or other animal.

7.	(of a person) to start up in angry excitement, hot resentment, or the like (usually fol. by up).

8.	to rise high or tower aloft: The skyscraper rears high over the neighboring buildings.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME reren, OE rǣran to raise; c. Goth -raisjan, ON reisa

Synonyms:
1. nurture, raise. 3. construct. 5. loft.

Usage note:
1. See raise.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To rear

rear¹ (rîr)

A hind part.
The point or area farthest from the front: the rear of the hall.
The part of a military deployment usually farthest from the fighting front.
Informal The buttocks.

adj. Of, at, or located in the rear.

[Middle English rere, rear of an army, short for rerewarde, rear guard; see rearward².]

rear² (rîr)

v. reared, rear·ing, rears

v. tr.

To care for (children or a child) during the early stages of life; bring up.
To lift upright; raise.
To build; erect.
To tend (growing plants or animals).

v. intr.

To rise on the hind legs, as a horse.
To rise high in the air; tower.

[Middle English reren, to raise, from Old English rǣran; see er-¹ in Indo-European roots.]
rear'er n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Rear

Rear\, adv. Early; soon. [Prov. Eng.]

Then why does Cuddy leave his cot so rear! --Gay.

Rear

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

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.

Rear

Rear\, v. t. To place in the rear; to secure the rear of. [R.]

Rear

Rear\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Reared; p. pr. & vb. n. Rearing.] [AS. r[=ae]ran to raise, rear, elevate, for r[=ae]san, causative of r[=i]san to rise. See Rise, and cf. Raise.]

1. To raise; to lift up; to cause to rise, become erect, etc.; to elevate; as, to rear a monolith.

In adoration at his feet I fell Submiss; he reared me. --Milton.

It reareth our hearts from vain thoughts. --Barrow.

Mine [shall be] the first hand to rear her banner. --Ld. Lytton.

2. To erect by building; to set up; to construct; as, to rear defenses or houses; to rear one government on the ruins of another.

One reared a font of stone. --Tennyson.

3. To lift and take up. [Obs. or R.]

And having her from Trompart lightly reared, Upon his set the lovely load. --Spenser.

4. To bring up to maturity, as young; to educate; to instruct; to foster; as, to rear offspring.

He wants a father to protect his youth, And rear him up to virtue. --Southern.

5. To breed and raise; as, to rear cattle.

6. To rouse; to strip up. [Obs.]

And seeks the tusky boar to rear. --Dryden.

Syn: To lift; elevate; erect; raise, build; establish. See the Note under Raise, 3 (c) .

Rear

Rear\, v. i. To rise up on the hind legs, as a horse; to become erect.

Rearing bit, a bit designed to prevent a horse from lifting his head when rearing. --Knight.

Language Translation for : rear

Spanish: parte trasera,

German: die Rückseite, die Nachhut,

Japanese: 後ろ

More Translations »

rear (n.)

"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.

rear (v.)

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.

rear

In addition to the idioms beginning with rear, also see bring up the rear.

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