bearing
/ˈbɛːrɪŋ
/noun
1A person’s way of standing or moving: a man of precise military bearing...
- The exhaustion shows, though his military bearing and appearance (he still has the buzz cut of a man in uniform) belie the toll the case has taken on him.
- Dressed like Sunday boaters, they appeared casual, but had a military bearing.
- They would cultivate a military bearing, trying to take a disciplinary flogging with manly indifference, and giving a smart salute after it.
Synonyms
posture, comportment, carriage, gait, stance;
British deportment
1.1The way a person behaves or conducts themselves: she has the bearing of a First Lady...
- A man's personality and mental make-up do have a bearing upon his conduct.
- Twopeny shared the disdain of other English visitors for the conduct and bearing of the native-born, a disdain matched by the anxiety of English mothers watching their children run free.
- Let us grant for the moment that individual choices and actions do reflect the moral bearing of a person, and that issues of morality can only be dealt with by spiritual, or deep self-enquiry.
Synonyms
demeanour, manner, air, aspect, attitude, behaviour, mien, countenance, guise, cast, look, feel, style
2 [mass noun] Relation; relevance: the case has no direct bearing on the issues being considered...
- The kids felt the story was unrealistic and had no bearing or relevance to their lives.
- None of those paragraphs have any bearing or have any relevance in considering the overseas cases because they were not dealing with the scheme of this legislation.
- This is where managing relationships has the most bearing.
Synonyms
relevance, relevancy, significance, pertinence, connection, relation, aptness, appositeness, germaneness, importance, import, application
3 [mass noun] The ability to tolerate something bad or to be tolerated: school was bad enough, but now it’s past bearing...
- Most oddly, while implacably committed to family duties and the bringing up of children, the novel succeeds in portraying both as a burden almost beyond human bearing.
- This city's normal population is only 85,000 and last week 400,000 retreating Leftists and hostages jammed it almost beyond bearing, with food running crucially short.
- Your begging is past bearing.
Synonyms
endurance, endurability, tolerance, tolerability, acceptance, acceptability, sufferance, manageability
4 (often bearings) A part of a machine that allows one part to rotate or move in contact with another part with as little friction as possible.If the bearings that allow the crankshaft to turn freely are worn out, the crankshaft cannot turn so the engine cannot run....
- After all, who's likely to take an engine apart to examine what kind of bearings the crankshaft is rotating in?
- Friction is also found in bearings, piston rings, transmission and rear-end gears, and a host of other car parts.
5The direction or position of something, or the direction of movement, relative to a fixed point. It is usually measured in degrees, typically with magnetic north as zero: the Point is on a bearing of 015° there were no steeples or bridges from which to take a bearing...
- The wreck was on a magnetic bearing of 360-degrees.
- Benina held the Lady on a bearing of 330 northwest (of Benina) and compatible with the aircraft's route to and from Naples.
- He lowered the nose and the chopper gained momentum, banking sharply to the left, he checked his magnetic compass and set off at a bearing of 282 degrees.
Synonyms
direction, orientation, course, trajectory, heading, tack, path, line, run
5.1 (one's bearings) Awareness of one’s position relative to one’s surroundings: he flashed the torch around, trying to get his bearings...
- He swam, trying to maintain his position and get his bearings inside the hold, until something pressed against him and he felt himself sinking deeper.
- Adam couldn't get his bearings from his position on the ground.
- In some kind of internal holding pattern with my bearings lost, deadly shy and baffled.
Synonyms
orientation, sense of direction;
whereabouts, location, position, situation, track, way
6 Heraldry A device or charge: armorial bearings...
- With the increasing realism of later medieval art, windows begin to include many details of daily life, and their donors are commemorated by being depicted in contemporary dress, or by the inclusion of their armorial bearings.
- Rommel presented, together with Giovianni, a beautiful copy of the armorial bearings of the city of Porto Recanati and some illustrated books of the city and its region.
- The carved eagles at the comers suggest that the table might have been made for the Borghese family, whose armorial bearings incorporate an eagle.
