bearing 
Transactions which have . . . direct liearinnn mi five- 
(loin, on health, on morals, on the permanent well-being 
of the nation, can never he morally Indifferent 
Roe, Cun temp. Socialism, ]>. 213. 
5. The special meaning or application of any- 
thing said or written. 
To change the bearing of a word. 
Tfiiiiiwui. In Memorial!!, cxxvni. 
6. The act or capability of producing or bring- 
ing forth: as, a tree past bearing. 
la travail of his bearing, his mother was tlrst dead. 
R'llH'rt of Gloucester. 
7. In arch., the space between the two fixed 
extremes of a beam or timber, or between one 
extreme and a supporter: that is, its unsup- 
ported span. 8. In much., the part in con- 
tact with which a journal moves; that part of 
a shaft or an axle which is in contact with its 
supports; in general, the part of any piece 
where it is supported, or the part of another 
piece on which it rests. 9. Same as hearing- 
note. 10. pi. In ship-building, the widest part 
of a vessel below the plank-sheer ; the line of 
flotation which is formed by the water on her 
sides when upright, with provisions, stores, etc., 
on board in proper trim. 11. In her., any sin- 
gle charge of a coat of arms; any one of the 
ordinaries, or any heraldic bird, beast, or other 
figure (see charge): hence, in the plural, the 
whole heraldic display to which a person is en- 
titled. See arm 2 , 7. 12. The direction or point 
of the compass in which an object is seen, or 
the direction of one object from another, with 
reference to the points of the compass. In yeol. 
and mining, used in speaking either of the outcrop of the 
strata or of the direction of any metalliferous lode or de- 
posit, whether under ground or at the surface : nearly sy- 
nonymous with run, course, and strike. 
"Before the sun could go his own length, the little wa- 
ter will be in the big." . . . 
"I thought as much," returned the scout, . . . "from 
the course it takes, and the bearings of the mountains." 
Cooper, Last of the Mohicans, xxxii. 
Antifriction bearing. See antifriction. Conical bear- 
ing, an end-bearing for the spindle of a machine-tool, 
formed by abutting the spindle-end against the end of a 
screw. One of these ends is brought to a conical point, 
and the other is correspondingly countersunk. The screw 
serves to adjust the bearings for wear. Continuous 
bearings. See continuous. Sand-bearings, in mold- 
ing, the supports for the core in the sand of a mold. 
Side bearings of a car-truck, plates, blocks, or rollers 
placed on each side of the center-pin to prevent a too great 
rocking motion. To bring a person to his bearings, 
to put him in his proper place ; take him down. To lose 
OQG'S bearings, to become uncertain or confused in re- 
gard to one's position ; become bewildered or puzzled. 
To take bearings, to ascertain on what point of the com- 
pass an object lies. The term is also applied to ascertain- 
ing the situation or direction of any object estimated with 
reference to some part of a ship, as on the beam, before 
the beam, abaft the beam, etc. Hence, to determine one's 
position ; make one's self acquainted with the locality in 
which one is ; discover how matters stand ; get rid of be- 
wilderment or misunderstanding. 
The best use that we can now make of this occasion, it 
seems to me, is to look about us, take our bearings, and 
tell the fugitives . . . what course, in our opinion, they 
should pursue. W. Phillips, Speeches, p. 76. 
bearing (bar'ing), a. 1. Supporting; sustain- 
ing: as, a bearing wall or partition (that is, 
a wall or partition supporting another). 2f. 
Solid; substantial: as, "a good bearing din- 
ner," Fletcher, Women Pleased, ii. 2. 
bearing-cloth (bar'ing-kloth), 11. The cloth 
with which a child is covered when carried to 
church to be baptized. Also called bear-cloth. 
Thy scarlet robes, as a child's bearintj-cloth, 
I'll use to carry tliee out of this place. 
Shall., 1 Hen. VI., i. S. 
bearing-feeler (bar ' ing - f e " ler), . An auto- 
matic alarm for signaling the overheating of 
a journal-bearing. A plug of fusible material con- 
nected with the bearing melts at a given temperature, 
and by suitable connections is made to sound an alarm. 
bearing-neck (bar'ing-uek), . The part which 
turns within the brasses of the pedestal of a 
car-truck, and sustains the strain ; the journal 
of a shaft. 
bearing-note (bar'ing-not), . In tuning tem- 
pered instruments, like the pianoforte, one of 
the notes that are first carefully tuned as a ba- 
sis in tuning the others. Also called bearing. 
bearing-rein (bar'ing-ran), n. The rein by 
which the head of a horse is held up in driving. 
bearing-robe (bar'ing-rob), . A garment an- 
swering the same purpose as a bearing-cloth. 
It was formerly customary for the sponsors to 
present such a robe to the child. 
bearish (bar'ish), a. [< bear* + -igftl.] 1. Par- 
taking of the qualities of a bear; morose or un- 
couth in manner. 
In our own language we seem to allude to this degen- 
eracy of human nature when we call men, by way of re- 
proach, sheepish, bearish, etc. 
Harris, Three Treatises, Notes, p. 344. 
492 
2. Heavy and falling: applied on the stock- 
exchange to prices. 
bearishness (bar'ish-nes), u. The state or 
quality of being bearish in nature, appearance, 
or manner. 
bear-leader (baT'le'der), . 1. A person who 
leads about a trained bear for exhibition. 
Hence 2. A tutor or governor in charge of a 
youth of rank at the university or on his trav- 
els, or one in a similar relation. [Humorous.] 
Young gentleman, I am the bear-leader, being appointed 
your tutor. Colman the Younger. 
They pounced upon the stray nobility, and seized young 
lords travelling with their bear-leaders. 
Thackeray, Book of Snobs, vii. 
bear-moss (bar'mos), n. Same as bear's-bed. 
bear-mouse (bar'mous), n. A book-name of a 
marmot or a woodchuck, translating the ge- 
neric name Arctomys. See cut under Arctomys. 
bearnt (barn), . [= bairn = barn 2 , q. v.] An 
obsolete form of bairn. 
bear-pig (bar'pig), n. The Indian badger or 
sand-bear, Arctonyx collaris. See badger*, 1. 
bear-pit (bar'pit), n. A pit prepared for the 
keeping of bears in a zoological garden, in the 
center a stout pole, with cross-bars or steps at proper dis- 
tances, is set up to enable the bear to indulge in his in- 
stinctive habit of climbing. 
bearst, " An obsolete spelling of barge. 
bear's-bed (barz'bed), m. The hair-cap moss, 
a species of Polytrichum which grows in broad, 
soft mats. Also called bear-moss. 
bear's-bilberry (barz'bil"ber-i), . Same as 
bi'arbcrry, 1. 
bear's-breech (barz'brech), . 1. The English 
name of Acanthus spinosus. See Acanthus. 
2. The cow-parsnip, Heracleum Sphondylium : 
so called on account of its roughness. 
bear's-colleget (barz'kol'ej), n. See bear-gar- 
den, 1. 
The students in bear's-college. 
S. Jonson, Masque of Gypsies. 
bear's-ear (barz'er), n. The common name in 
England of the auricula, Primula Auricula, 
from its early Latin name, ursi auricula, given 
in allusion to the shape of its leaf. 
bear's-foot (barz'fut), n. A plant of the genus 
Helleborus, S. fcetidus. See Helleborus. 
bear's-garlic (barz'gar"lik), . A species of 
onion, Allium ursinmn. 
bear's-grape (barz'grap), n. Same as bear- 
berry, I. 
bearskin (bar'skin), re. 1. The skin of a bear. 
2. A coarse shaggy woolen cloth for over- 
coats. 3. A tall cap made of black fur form- 
ing part of the uniform of some military bodies, 
as of the Guards in the British army and of 
soldiers of various organizations elsewhere. 
The bearskins of the French gienadiers rose above the 
crest of the hill. Yonge, Life of Wellington, xxxiii. 
Bearskin Jobber. See bear%, n., 5. 
bear's-paw clam, root. See clam, root. 
bear's-WOed (barz'wed), n. The yerba santa 
of California, Eriodiction glutinosum. 
bearward (bar'ward), n. A keeper of bears. 
We'll bait thy bears to death. 
And manacle the bearward in their chains. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., v. 1. 
Those who worke with them co'mand them as our bf are- 
wards do the beares, with a ring through the nose, and a 
cord. Evelyn, Diary, Oct. 21, 1644. 
I entreated a bearward one day to come down with the 
dogs of some four parishes that way. 
B. Jonson, Epicrene, i. 1. 
bear- whelp (bar'hwelp), n. [< ME. bere-hwelp; 
< bear z + whelp.'] The whelp of a bear. 
An unlicked bear-whelp. Shot., 3 Hen. VI., 111. 2. 
bearwood (bar'wud), n. The Rhamnus Pur- 
shiana, a shrub or small tree of the Pacific 
States. See bearberry, 2. 
bearwort (bar'wert), n. The mew or bald- 
money, Meum athamanticum. 
beast (best), n. [Early mod. E. also beest, < 
ME. beeste, beste, < OF. beste, F. bfte = Sp. Pg. 
It. bestia = D. LG. beest, < L. bestia, an animal, 
including all animals except man.] 1. A liv- 
ing being; an animal: in this extended sense 
now only in dialectal or colloquial use. 
These ben the eyryssh [airish] bestet, lo. 
Chaucer, House of fame, L 932. 
To keepe this worlde bothe more and lesse 
A skylfull beeste [man] than will y make. 
York Plays, p. 15. 
2. Aay four-footed animal, as distinguished 
from fowls, insects, fishes, and man : as, beasts 
of burden; beasts of the chase; beasts of the 
forest. It is applied chiefly to large animals. 
The beasts, the fishes, and the winged fowls. 
Sltak., 0. of E., ii. 1. 
beast's-bane 
One ilei-p ny 
Of jrreat wild braxtx. Tennyson, Palace of Art. 
r>-'itxt* o/c/mxe are the buck, the doe, the fox, the mar- 
ten. and the roe. Deost* of the .forest are the hart, the 
hind, the hare, the boar, and the wolf. BeastH of warren 
are tile hare and cony. Cowell, Law Dictionary. 
3. Any irrational animal, as opposed to man, 
as in the phrase man and beast, where beast 
usually means horse. 
O heaven ! a beast, that wants discourse of reason, 
Would have mourn 'd longer. Shak., Hamlet, i. 2. 
4. jil. In rural economy, originally all domestic 
animals, but now only cattle ; especially, fat- 
ting cattle as distinguished from other animals. 
5. In a limited specific use, a horse : as, my 
beast is tired out. [Local, Scotland and U. S. 
Compare creature, critter, similarly used.] 6. 
Figuratively, a brutal man; a person rude, 
coarse, filthy, or acting in a manner unworthy 
of a rational creature. 
What an afflicted conscience do I live with, 
And what a beast I am grown ! 
Flt'trher, Valentinian, iv. 1. 
7f. [In this use also spelled as orig. pron., baste, 
< F. beste, now bete, in same sense.] (a) An 
old game of cards resembling loo. (6) A pen- 
alty or forfeit at this game, and also in ombre 
and quadrille. Beast royal, the lion : used also of 
the constellation Leo. 
And yet ascending was the beste roial, 
The gentil Leon with his Aldiran. 
Chmuxr, Squire's Tale, 1. 256. 
Blatant beast. See blatant. 
beasted (bes'ted), a. [< beast, n., 7, + -<-ttv.~\ 
Beaten at ombre or quadrille. 
beastee, . See bheesty. 
beast-hide (best'hid), . Sole-leather which 
has not been hammered. It is used for glaziers' 
polishing- wheels. 
beasthood (best'hud), . [< beast + -hood.'] 
The nature or condition of beasts. Carlyle. 
beastie 1 (bes'ti). . [Dim. of beast.] A little 
animal. [Scotch.] 
beastie 2 (bes'ti), n. See bheesty. 
beastily (bes'ti-li), adv. As a beast; bestially. 
beastings, . sing, or pi. See beestings. 
beastish (bes'tish), a. [< ME. bestish; < beast 
+ -isA 1 .] Like a beast ; brutal. 
It would be but a kind of animal or beastish meeting. 
Milton, Divorce, xiii. (Ord M.S.). 
beastliness (best'li-nes), . 1. The state or 
quality of being beastly ; brutality ; coarseness ; 
vulgarity; filthiness. 
Rank inundation of Inxuriousness 
Has tainted him with such gross beastliness. 
Marston, Scourge of Villainie, il. 7. 
2f. Absence of reason ; stupidity. 
IleaMiness and lack of consideration. North. 
beastly (best'li), a. [< ME. bcestely, bestely, 
beastliche; < beaut + -ly l .~] It. Natural; ani- 
mal: the opposite of spiritual. 
It is >. i\\ u n a beestli bodi ; it shal ryse a spiritual bodi. 
Wyclif, ICor. xv. 44. 
2. Like a beast in form or nature ; animal. 
Beastly divinities and droves of gods. Prior. 
3. Like a beast in conduct or instincts ; brutal; 
filthy; coarse. 
Thou art the beaMietf, crossest baggage that ever man 
met withal '. Middleton (and others), The Widow, i. 2. 
4. Befitting a beast ; unfit for human use ; filthy ; 
abominable. 
Lewd, profane, and beastly phrase. B. Jonson. 
Thrown into beastly prisons. Dickens, Hist, of Eng., \ vi. 
6. Nasty; disagreeable: as, beastly weather. 
[Slang.] 
By laying the defeat to the account of "this beastly 
English weather, you know." American, VI. 245. 
= Syn. Brutal, Bestial, etc. See brute, 
beastlyt (best'li), adv. [< beast + -ly*.] In 
the manner of a beast ; filthily ; abominably. 
Fie on her ! see how beastly she doth court him. 
Shak., T. of the S., iv. 2. 
I have seen a handsome cause so foully lost, sir, 
So beastly cast away, for want of witnesses. 
Fletcher, Spanish Curate, Hi. 1. 
beastlyheadt (best'li-hed), n. [< beastly + 
-head = -hood ; one of Spenser's artificial words. ] 
The character or quality of a beast ; beastli- 
ness : used by Spenser as a greeting to a beast. 
Sicke, sicke, alas ! and little lack of dead, 
But I be relieved by your beastlyhead. 
Spenser, Shep. Cal., May. 
beast's-bane (bests'ban), n. A variety of the 
wolf's-bane, Aconitum Lycoctonum. 
