bearing

Definitions

1. 1.Patient endurance; suffering without complaint.
2. 2.The situation of one object, with respect to another, such situation being supposed to have a connection with the object, or influence upon it, or to be influenced by it; hence, relation; connection. But of this frame, the bearings and the ties, The strong connections, nice dependencies. Pope.
3. 3.Purport; meaning; intended significance; aspect.
4. 4.The act, power, or time of producing or giving birth; as, a tree in full bearing; a tree past bearing. [His mother] in travail of his bearing. R. of Gloucester.
5. 5.(Arch.) (a) That part of any member of a building which rests upon its supports; as, a lintel or beam may have four inches of bearing upon the wall. (b) The portion of a support on which anything rests. (c) Improperly, the unsupported span; as, the beam has twenty feet of bearing between its supports.
6. 6.(Mach.) (a) The part of an axle or shaft in contact with its support, collar, or boxing; the journal. (b) The part of the support on which a journal rests and rotates.
7. 7.(Her.) Any single emblem or charge in an escutcheon or coat of arms -- commonly in the pl. A carriage covered with armorial bearings. Thackeray.
8. 8.(Naut.) (a) The situation of a distant object, with regard to a ship's position, as on the bow, on the lee quarter, etc.; the direction or point of the compass in which an object is seen; as, the bearing of the cape was W. N. W. (b) pl. The widest part of a vessel below the plank-sheer. (c) pl. The line of flotation of a vessel when properly trimmed with cargo or ballast. Ball bearings. See under Ball. -- To bring one to his bearings, to bring one to his senses. -- To lose one's bearings, to become bewildered. -- To take bearings, to ascertain by the compass the position of an object; to ascertain the relation of one object or place to another; to ascertain one's position by reference to landmarks or to the compass; hence (Fig.), to ascertain the condition of things when one is in trouble or perplexity.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "bearing" mean?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is bearing.

• What is patient endurance; suffering without complaint called?
• What is purport; meaning; intended significance; aspect called?
• What is the act, power, or time of producing or giving birth; as, a tree in full bearing; a tree past bearing. [His mother] in travail of his bearing. R. of Gloucester called?
• What is (a) The part of an axle or shaft in contact with its support, collar, or boxing; the journal. (b) The part of the support on which a journal rests and rotates called?
• What is any single emblem or charge in an escutcheon or coat of arms -- commonly in the pl. A carriage covered with armorial bearings. Thackeray called?