bearing
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈbɛə̯ɹɪŋ/
  • (America) enPR: bâr'ĭng IPA: /ˈbɛɹɪŋ/
Verb
  1. present participle of bear#English|bear
Adjective

bearing (not comparable)

  1. (in combination) That bears (some specified thing).
    a gift-bearing visitor
  2. Of a beam, column, or other device, carrying weight or load.
    That's a bearing wall.
Translations Noun

bearing (plural bearings)

  1. A mechanical device that supports another part and/or reduces friction.
  2. (navigation, nautical) The horizontal angle between the direction of an object and another object, or between it and that of true north; a heading or direction.
  3. Relevance; a relationship or connection.
    That has no bearing on this issue.
    • 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify ), London: Printed for J[ohn] Wilford, […], OCLC 960856019 ↗:
  4. One's posture, demeanor, or manner.
    She walks with a confident, self-assured bearing.
    • 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act II, scene i]:
      I know him by his bearing.
  5. (in the plural) Direction or relative position.
  6. (architecture) That part of any member of a building which rests upon its supports.
    A lintel or beam may have four inches of bearing upon the wall.
  7. (architecture) The portion of a support on which anything rests.
  8. (architecture, proscribed) The unsupported span.
    The beam has twenty feet of bearing between its supports.
  9. (heraldry) Any single emblem or charge in an escutcheon or coat of arms.
    • A carriage covered with armorial bearings.
Related terms
  • find one's bearings
  • get one's bearings
  • lose one's bearings
Translations Translations Translations Translations


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