different between bear vs lift

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /b??(?)/, /b??(?)/, enPR: bâr
• (General American) IPA^(key): /b???/, enPR: bâr
• (Indian English) IPA^(key): /?bi??(r)/, /b??(r)/
• Homophone: bare
• Rhymes: -??(?)
• (Southern US, colloquial) IPA^(key): /b??/
• Homophone: bar (Southern US, colloquial)

Etymology 1

From Middle English bere, from Old English bera, from Proto-West Germanic *ber?, from Proto-Germanic *berô (compare West Frisian bear, Dutch beer, German Bär, Danish bjørn).

Noun

bear (plural bears)

2. A large omnivorous mammal, related to the dog and raccoon, having shaggy hair, a very small tail, and flat feet; a member of family Ursidae.
3. (figuratively) A rough, unmannerly, uncouth person. [1579]
4. (finance) An investor who sells commodities, securities, or futures in anticipation of a fall in prices. [1744]

   Antonym: bull

5. (slang, US) A state policeman (short for smokey bear). [1970s]
   • 1976 June, CB Magazine, Communications Publication Corporation, Oklahoma City, June 40/3:

     ‘The bear's pulling somebody off there at 74,’ reported someone else.

6. (slang) A large, hairy man, especially one who is homosexual. [1990]
   • 1990, "Bears, gay men subculture materials" (publication title, Human Sexuality Collection, Collection Level Periodical Record):
   • 2004, Richard Goldstein, Why I'm Not a Bear, in The Advocate, number 913, 27 April 2004, page 72:

     I have everything it takes to be a bear: broad shoulders, full beard, semibald pate, and lots of body hair. But I don't want to be a fetish.

   • 2006, Simon LeVay, Sharon McBride Valente, Human sexuality:

     There are numerous social organizations for bears in most parts of the United States. Lesbians don't have such prominent sexual subcultures as gay men, although, as just mentioned, some lesbians are into BDSM practices.

   Antonym: twink

7. (engineering) A portable punching machine.
8. (nautical) A block covered with coarse matting, used to scour the deck.
9. (cartomancy) The fifteenth Lenormand card.
10. (colloquial, US) Something difficult or tiresome; a burden or chore.

Synonyms

• (large omnivorous mammal): see Thesaurus:bear
• (rough, uncouth person): see Thesaurus:troublemaker
• (police officer): see Thesaurus:police officer

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Irish: béar

Translations

See bear/translations § Noun.

Verb

bear (third-person singular simple present bears, present participle bearing, simple past and past participle beared)

1. (finance, transitive) To endeavour to depress the price of, or prices in.

Adjective

bear (not comparable)

1. (finance, investments) Characterized by declining prices in securities markets or by belief that the prices will fall.

Translations

See also

• ursine
• Appendix:Animals
• Appendix:English collective nouns

References

• Donald A. Ringe, From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (2006), Linguistic history of English, vol. 1, Oxford: Oxford University Press ?ISBN

Further reading

• bear on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

From Middle English beren (“carry, bring forth”), from Old English beran (“to carry, bear, bring”), from Proto-West Germanic *beran, from Proto-Germanic *beran?, from Proto-Indo-European *b?éreti, from *b?er- (“to bear, carry”).

Akin to Old High German beran (“carry”), Dutch baren, Norwegian Bokmål bære, Norwegian Nynorsk bera, German gebären, Gothic ???????????????????????? (bairan), Sanskrit ???? (bhárati), Latin ferre, and Ancient Greek ?????? (phérein), Albanian bie (“to bring, to bear”), Russian ????? (brat?, “to take”), Persian ????? (bordan, “to take, to carry”).

Verb

bear (third-person singular simple present bears, present participle bearing, simple past bore or (archaic) bare, past participle borne or (see usage notes) born)

1. (chiefly transitive) To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
   1. (transitive, of weapons, flags or symbols of rank, office, etc.) To carry upon one's person, especially visibly; to be equipped with.

   2. (transitive, of garments, pieces of jewellery, etc.) To wear. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
   3. (transitive, rarely intransitive, of a woman or female animal) To carry (offspring in the womb), to be pregnant (with).

   4. (transitive) To have or display (a mark or other feature).
      • 1859, Charles Darwin, Origin of Species iv. 88:

        Male stag-beetles often bear wounds from the huge mandibles of other males.

   5. (transitive) To display (a particular heraldic device) on a shield or coat of arms; to be entitled to wear or use (a heraldic device) as a coat of arms. [1400]

   6. (transitive) To present or exhibit (a particular outward appearance); to have (a certain look). [1200]
      • 1930, Essex Chronicle 18 April 9/5:

   7. (transitive) To have (a name, title, or designation). [1225]
      • 2005, Lesley Brown, translator, Plato, Sophist. 234b:

        […] imitations that bear the same name as the things […]

      • 2013, D. Goldberg, Universe in Rearview Mirror iii. 99:

        Heinrich Olbers described the paradox that bears his name in 1823.

   8. (transitive) To possess or enjoy (recognition, renown, a reputation, etc.); to have (a particular price, value, or worth). [1393]

   9. (transitive, of an investment, loan, etc.) To have (interest or a specified rate of interest) stipulated in its terms. [1686]

   10. (transitive, of a person or animal) To have (an appendage, organ, etc.) as part of the body; (of a part of the body) to have (an appendage).

   11. (transitive) To carry or hold in the mind; to experience, entertain, harbour (an idea, feeling, or emotion).
   12. (transitive, rare) To feel and show (respect, reverence, loyalty, etc.) to, towards, or unto a person or thing.

   13. (transitive) To possess inherently (a quality, attribute, power, or capacity); to have and display as an essential characteristic.

   14. (transitive, of a thing) To have (a relation, correspondence, etc.) to something else. [1556]

   15. (transitive) To give (written or oral testimony or evidence); (figurative) to provide or constitute (evidence or proof), give witness.

   16. (transitive) To have (a certain meaning, intent, or effect).

       • Her sentence bore that she should stand a certain time upon the platform.

   17. (reflexive, transitive) To behave or conduct (oneself).
   18. (transitive, rare) To possess and use, to exercise (power or influence); to hold (an office, rank, or position).

       • Every man should bear rule in his own house.

   19. (intransitive, obsolete) To carry a burden or burdens. [1450]
   20. (transitive, obsolete, rare) To take or bring (a person) with oneself; to conduct. [1590]
2. To support, sustain, or endure.
   2. (transitive) To support or sustain; to hold up.

   3. (now transitive outside certain set patterns such as 'bear with'; formerly also intransitive) To endure or withstand (hardship, scrutiny, etc.); to tolerate; to be patient (with).
      • 1700, John Dryden, "Meleager and Atalanta", in: The poetical works, vol. 4, William Pickering, 1852, p. 169:

        I cannot, cannot bear; ’tis past , ’tis done; / Perish this impious , this detested son; […]
   4. (transitive) To sustain, or be answerable for (blame, expense, responsibility, etc.).

      The hirer must bear the cost of any repairs.

      • He shall bear their iniquities.

      • 1753, John Dryden, The Spanish Friar: or, the Double Discovery, Tonson and Draper, p. 64:

        What have you gotten there under your arm, Daughter? somewhat, I hope, that will bear your Charges in your Pilgrimage.

   5. (transitive) To admit or be capable of (a meaning); to suffer or sustain without violence, injury, or change.
      • 1724, Jonathan Swift, Drapier's Letters

        In all criminal cases the most favourable interpretation should be put on words that they can possibly bear.

   6. (transitive) To warrant, justify the need for.

3. To support, keep up, or maintain.
   1. (transitive) To afford, to be something to someone, to supply with something. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
      • 1732–4, Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man, Longmans, Green & Co, 1879, bear%20him%20company%20pope&hl=de&pg=PA10#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 10:

        […] admitted to that equal sky, / His faithful dog shall bear him company.

   2. (transitive) To carry on, or maintain; to have. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
      • 1693, John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education, § 98:

        […] and he finds the Pleasure, and Credit of bearing a Part in the Conversation, and of having his Reasons sometimes approved and hearken'd to.

4. To press or impinge upon.
   1. (intransitive, usually with on, upon, or against) To push, thrust, press.

      • These men therefore bear hard upon the suspected party.

   2. (intransitive, figuratively) To take effect; to have influence or force; to be relevant.

   3. (intransitive, military, usually with on or upon) Of a weapon, to be aimed at an enemy or other target.
      • 2012, Ronald D. Utt, Ships of Oak, Guns of Iron

        Constitution's gun crews crossed the deck to the already loaded larboard guns as Bainbridge wore the ship around on a larboard tack and recrossed his path in a rare double raking action to bring her guns to bear again on Java's damaged stern.

5. To produce, yield, give birth to.
   1. (transitive) To give birth to (someone or something) (may take the father of the direct object as an indirect object).

   2. (transitive, less commonly intransitive) To produce or yield something, such as fruit or crops.
      • 1688, John Dryden, Britannia Rediviva

        Betwixt two seasons comes th' auspicious air, / This age to blossom, and the next to bear.

6. (intransitive, originally nautical) To be, or head, in a specific direction or azimuth (from somewhere).

7. (transitive, obsolete) To gain or win.
   • 1612, Francis Bacon, Of Seeming Wise

     Some think to bear it by speaking a great word.

   • April 5, 1549, Hugh Latimer, The Fifth Sermon Preached Before King Edward (probably not in original spelling)

     She was […] found not guilty, through bearing of friends and bribing of the judge.

Usage notes

• The past participle of bear is usually borne:
  • He could not have borne that load.
  • She had borne five children.
  • This is not to be borne!
• However, when bear is used in the passive voice to mean "to be given birth to" literally or figuratively (e.g. be created, be the result of), the form used to form all tenses is born:
  • She was born on May 3.
  • Racism is usually born out of a real or feared loss of power to a minority or a real or feared decrease in relative prosperity compared to that of the minority.
  • Born three years earlier, he was the eldest of his siblings.
  • "The idea to create [the Blue Ridge Parkway] was born in the travail of the Great Depression […] ." (Tim Pegram, The Blue Ridge Parkway by Foot: A Park Ranger's Memoir, ?ISBN, 2007, page 1)
• Both spellings have been used in the construction born(e) into the world/family and born(e) to someone (as a child). The borne spellings are more frequent in older and religious writings.
  • He was born(e) to Mr. Smith.
  • She was born(e) into the most powerful family in the city.
  • "[M]y father was borne to a Swedish mother and a Norwegian father, both devout Lutherans." (David Ross, Good Morning Corfu: Living Abroad Against All Odds, ?ISBN, 2009)
• In some colloquial speech, beared can be found for both the simple past and the past participle, although it is usually considered nonstandard and avoided in writing. Similarly, bore may be extended to the past participle; the same provisos apply for this form.

Synonyms

• (to put up with something): brook, endure; See also Thesaurus:tolerate

Derived terms

Translations

References

• bear at OneLook Dictionary Search
• bear in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Etymology 3

Noun

bear (uncountable)

1. Alternative spelling of bere (“barley”).
   • 1800, Tuke, Agric., 119:

     There are several plots of those species of barley called big, which is six-rowed barley; or bear, which is four-rowed, cultivated.

   • 1818, Marshall, Reports Agric., I. 191:

     Bigg or bear, with four grains on the ear, was the kind of barley.

   • 1895, Dixon, Whittingham Vale, 130:

     Two stacks of beare, of xx boules,

   • 1908, Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, page 151:

     […] one wheat stack, one half-stack of corn, and a little hay, all standing in the barnyard; four stacks of bear in the barn, about three bolls of bear lying on the barn floor, two stacks of corn in the barn, […]

   • 1802-1816, Papers on Sutherland Estate Management, published in 1972, Scottish History Society, Publications:

     Your Horses are Getting Pease Straw, and looking very well. The 2 Stacks of Bear formerly mentioned as Put in by Mr Bookless is not fully dressed as yet so that I cannot say at present what Quantity they may Produce .

Etymology 4

Middle English bere (“pillowcase”), of obscure origin, but compare Old English hl?or-bera (“cheek-cover”). Possibly cognate to Low German büre, whence German Bühre, which in turn has been compared to French bure.

Noun

bear (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) A pillowcase; a fabric case or covering as for a pillow.
   • 1742, William Ellis, The London and Country Brewer [...] Fourth Edition, page 36:

     And, according to this, one of my Neighbours made a Bag, like a Pillow-bear, of the ordinary six-penny yard Cloth, and boiled his Hops in it half an Hour; then he took them out, and put in another Bag of the like Quantity of fresh Hops, […]

   • 1850, Samuel Tymms, Wills and Inventories from the Registers of the Commissary of Bury St. Edmunds and the Archdeacon of Sudbury, page 116:

     ij payer of schete, ij pelows wt the berys,

   • 1858, Journal of the Statistical Society of London, page 409:

     1641.—14 yards of femble cloth, 12s. ; 8 yards of linen, 6s. 8d. ; 20 yards of harden, 10s. ; 5 linen sheets, 1l. ; 7 linen pillow bears, 8s. ; 2 femble sheets and a line hard sheet, 10s. ; 3 linen towels, 4s. ; 6 lin curtains and a vallance, 12s. ; […]

   • 1905, Emily Wilder Leavitt, Palmer Groups: John Melvin of Charlestown and Concord, Mass. and His Descendants ; Gathered and Arranged for Mr. Lowell Mason Palmer of New York, page 24:

     I give to my Grand Child Lidea Carpenter the Coverlid that her mother spun and my pillow bear and a pint Cup & my great Pott that belongs to the Pott and Trammels.

   • 1941, Minnie Hite Moody, Long Meadows, page 71:

     […] a man's eyes played him false, sitting him before tables proper with damask and pewter, leading him to fall into beds gracious with small and large feather beds for softness and pillowed luxuriously under pretty checked linen pillow bears.

Anagrams

• Aber, Bare, Baré, Brea, Reba, bare, brae, rabe

Irish

Noun

bear m pl

1. alternative genitive plural of bior (“pointed rod or shaft; spit, spike; point”)

Mutation

Further reading

• "bear" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian bera, from Proto-West Germanic *ber?, from Proto-Germanic *berô.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b???r/

Noun

bear c (plural bearen, diminutive bearke)

1. bear

Further reading

• “bear (II)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: l?ft, IPA^(key): /l?ft/
• Rhymes: -?ft

Etymology 1

From Middle English liften, lyften, from Old Norse lypta (“to lift, air”, literally “to raise in the air”), from Proto-Germanic *luftijan? (“to raise in the air”), related to *luftuz (“roof, air”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”) or from a root meaning roof (see *luftuz). Cognate with Danish and Norwegian Bokmål løfte (“to lift”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish lyfta (“to lift”), German lüften (“to air, lift”), Old English lyft (“air”). See above. 1851 for the noun sense "a mechanical device for vertical transport".

(To steal): For this sense Cleasby suggests perhaps a relation to the root of Gothic ???????????????????????????? (hliftus) "thief", cognate with Latin cleptus and Greek ?????? (klépt?))

Verb

lift (third-person singular simple present lifts, present participle lifting, simple past lifted or (rare, regional, obsolete) lift, past participle lifted or (rare, regional, obsolete) lift or (obsolete) yleft)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To raise or rise.
   • c1490, Of Penance and Confession be master Jhon Yrland?

     Liftand (lifting) thy hands and thy eyen to Heaven.

   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,

     Their walk had continued not more than ten minutes when they crossed a creek by a wooden bridge and came to a row of mean houses standing flush with the street. At the door of one, an old black woman had stooped to lift a large basket, piled high with laundered clothes.
2. (transitive, slang) To steal.
   • 1919, Rudyard Kipling, The Ballad of East and West

     Kamal is out with twenty men to raise the Border side,
     And he has lifted the Colonel's mare that is the Colonel's pride.
3. (transitive, slang) To source directly without acknowledgement; to plagiarise.
4. (transitive, slang) To arrest (a person).
   • 2000, Marie Smyth, Marie-Therese Fay, Personal Accounts From Northern Ireland's Troubles

     Maybe the police lifted him and he's in Castlereagh [Interrogation Centre] because he'd been lifted three or four times previously and took to Castlereagh. They used to come in and raid the house and take him away.

5. (transitive) To remove (a ban, restriction, etc.).
6. (transitive) To alleviate, to lighten (pressure, tension, stress, etc.)
7. (transitive) to cause to move upwards.
8. (informal, intransitive) To lift weights; to weight-lift.

9. To try to raise something; to exert the strength for raising or bearing.

   • strained by lifting at a weight too heavy

10. To elevate or improve in rank, condition, etc.; often with up.

    • The Roman virtues lift up mortal man.

    • being lifted up with pride

11. (obsolete) To bear; to support.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Edmund Spenser to this entry?)

12. To collect, as moneys due; to raise.
13. (programming) To transform (a function) into a corresponding function in a different context.
14. (finance) To buy a security or other asset previously offered for sale.
15. (hunting, transitive) To take (hounds) off the existing scent and move them to another spot.
    • 1885, Lina Chaworth Musters, Book of Hunting Songs and Sport (page 144)

      I lifted the hounds (hoping to catch the leading ones there) to the far side of Hallaton Thorns.

Usage notes

Lift also has an obsolete form liftand for the present participle. The strong forms were common until the 17th century in writing and still survive in speech in a few rural dialects.

Hyponyms

• airlift

Derived terms

• airlifted
• lift-off
• lifting

Translations

References

• The Dictionary of the Scots Language

Noun

lift (countable and uncountable, plural lifts)

1. An act of lifting or raising.
2. The act of transporting someone in a vehicle; a ride; a trip.

   He gave me a lift to the bus station.

3. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand) Mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people between floors in a building; an elevator.

4. An upward force, such as the force that keeps aircraft aloft.
5. (measurement) The difference in elevation between the upper pool and lower pool of a waterway, separated by lock.
6. (historical slang) A thief.
   • 1977, Gãmini Salgãdo, The Elizabethan Underworld, Folio Society 2006, page 32:

     The lift came into the shop dressed like a country gentleman, but was careful not to have a cloak about him, so that the tradesman could see he had no opportunity to conceal any goods about his person.

7. (dance) The lifting of a dance partner into the air.
8. Permanent construction with a built-in platform that is lifted vertically.
9. An improvement in mood.
   • November 17 2012, BBC Sport: Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham [4]

     The dismissal of a player who left Arsenal for Manchester City before joining Tottenham gave the home players and fans a noticeable lift.

10. The amount or weight to be lifted.

11. The space or distance through which anything is lifted.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)

12. A rise; a degree of elevation.

13. A liftgate.
14. (nautical) A rope leading from the masthead to the extremity of a yard below, and used for raising or supporting the end of the yard.
15. (engineering) One of the steps of a cone pulley.
16. (shoemaking) A layer of leather in the heel of a shoe.
17. (horology) That portion of the vibration of a balance during which the impulse is given.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Saunier to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (mechanical device) elevator (US)
• (act of transporting) ride
• (upward force) uplift

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• escalator

Etymology 2

From Middle English lifte, luft, lefte (“air, sky, heaven”), from Old English lyft (“atmosphere, air”), from Proto-West Germanic *luftu, from Proto-Germanic *luftuz (“roof, sky, air”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”).

Cognate with Old High German luft (“air”) (German Luft), Dutch lucht (“air”), Old Norse lopt, loft (“upper room, sky, air”). More at loft.

Noun

lift (usually uncountable, plural lifts)

1. (Britain dialectal, chiefly Scotland) Air.
2. (Britain dialectal, chiefly Scotland) The sky; the heavens; firmament; atmosphere.
   • 1836, Joanna Baillie, Witchcraft, Act 1, p.13

     No, no, Leddy! the sun maun be up in the lift whan I venture to her den.

Synonyms

• (gas or vapour breathed): air
• (firmament, ethereal region surrounding the earth): atmosphere
• (the heavens, sky): welkin

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “lift”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• ILTF, flit

Danish

Etymology

From English lift

Noun

lift n (singular definite liftet, plural indefinite lift)

1. The non-commercial act of transporting someone in a vehicle: ride
2. boost

Inflection

Noun

lift c (singular definite liften, plural indefinite lifte or lifter)

1. carrycot
2. elevator
3. lift

Inflection

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l?ft/
• Hyphenation: lift
• Rhymes: -?ft

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English lift.

Noun

lift m (plural liften, diminutive liftje n)

1. A lift, an elevator.
2. A free ride, a lift.

Derived terms

• goederenlift
• rolstoellift
• skilift
• stoeltjeslift
• traplift

Related terms

• liften

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

lift

1. first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of liften
2. imperative of liften

Estonian

Etymology

From English lift.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?lift/

Noun

lift (genitive lifta, partitive lifta)

1. lift, elevator

Declension

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from English lift.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?lift]
• Hyphenation: lift
• Rhymes: -ift

Noun

lift (plural liftek)

1. lift, elevator

Declension

Synonyms

• felvonó (dated)
• páternoszter (a slow, continuously moving lift or elevator)

Derived terms

• liftes
• liftezik

(Compound words):

• személyzeti lift (lift/elevator for staff)
• beteglift (lift/elevator for patients in hospitals)
• sílift
• teherlift

Further reading

• lift in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmez? szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: ?ISBN

Indonesian

Etymology

From English lift, from Middle English liften, lyften, from Old Norse lypta (“to lift, air”, literally “to raise in the air”), from Proto-Germanic *luftijan? (“to raise in the air”), related to *luftuz (“roof, air”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”) or from a root meaning roof (see *luftuz).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?l?f]
• Hyphenation: lift

Noun

lift (plural lift-lift, first-person possessive liftku, second-person possessive liftmu, third-person possessive liftnya)

1. lift, mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people between floors in a building; an elevator.

Compounds

Further reading

• “lift” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

Italian

Etymology

From English lift

Noun

lift m (invariable)

1. lift / elevator operator
2. (tennis) topspin

Derived terms

• liftare

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From English lift.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lîft/

Noun

l?ft m (Cyrillic spelling ?????)

1. lift, elevator

Declension

Synonyms

• d?zalo

Slovak

Etymology

From English lift.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?lift/

Noun

lift m (genitive singular liftu, nominative plural lifty, genitive plural liftov, declension pattern of dub)

1. (colloquial) an elevator, lift

Declension

Synonyms

• vý?ah

Derived terms

• liftový

Further reading

• lift in Slovak dictionaries at korpus.sk

Uzbek

Etymology

From Russian ???? (lift), from English lift.

Noun

lift (plural liftlar)

1. elevator, lift

Declension

Related terms

• liftchi
• liftyor

Volapük

Noun

lift (nominative plural lifts)

1. elevator
2. altitude adjustor

Declension