Word of the Day: bear

http://scottengnote.blogspot.com/2008/02/word-of-day-bear.html

http://scottengnote.blogspot.com/2008/02/word-of-day-bear.html

bear (bâr)
 
Pronounced: click here
 
Function: noun [count]
 
Plural: bear or bears
 
Meanings:
1 : any one of a group of large and heavy animals that have thick hair and sharp claws and that can stand on two legs like a person
Example:
<a mother bear and her cubs>
 
Note: Bear is sometimes used figuratively to describe a large man.
Examples:
<a tall, friendly bear of a man>
<My father can be a grumpy old bear when he's tired.>
 
Note: In informal British English, a person who becomes angry or annoyed very easily is (like) a bear with a sore head.
Example:
<My father can be like a bear with a sore head when he's tired.>
 
2 finance : a person who expects the price of stocks to go down and who sells them to avoid losing money
Example:
<The bears outnumbered the bulls on Wall Street today.>
 
3 US, informal : something that is difficult to do or deal with
Example:
<This oven is a bear to clean. [=this oven is very hard to clean]>
 
 

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