Bearing cloth
(Bear"ing cloth`) A cloth with which a child is covered when carried to be baptized. Shak.
Bearing rein
(Bear"ing rein`) A short rein looped over the check hook or the hames to keep the horse's
head up; — called in the United States a checkrein.
Bearish
(Bear"ish), a. Partaking of the qualities of a bear; resembling a bear in temper or manners.
Harris.
Bearishness
(Bear"ish*ness), n. Behavior like that of a bear.
Bearn
(Bearn) n. See Bairn. [Obs.]
Bear's-breech
(Bear's"-breech`) n. (Bot.) (a) See Acanthus, n., 1. (b) The English cow parsnip
(Heracleum sphondylium) Dr. Prior.
Bear's-ear
(Bear's-ear`) n. (Bot.) A kind of primrose so called from the shape of the leaf.
Bear's-foot
(Bear's"-foot`) n. (Bot.) A species of hellebore with digitate leaves. It has an offensive
smell and acrid taste, and is a powerful emetic, cathartic, and anthelmintic.
Bearskin
(Bear"skin`) n.
1. The skin of a bear.
2. A coarse, shaggy, woolen cloth for overcoats.
3. A cap made of bearskin, esp. one worn by soldiers.
Bear's-paw
(Bear's"-paw`) n. (Zoöl.) A large bivalve shell of the East Indies often used as an ornament.
Bearward
(Bear"ward`) n. [Bear + ward a keeper.] A keeper of bears. See Bearherd. [R.] Shak.
Beast
(Beast) n. [OE. best, beste, OF. beste, F. bête, fr. L. bestia.]
1. Any living creature; an animal; — including man, insects, etc. [Obs.] Chaucer.
2. Any four-footed animal, that may be used for labor, food, or sport; as, a beast of burden.
A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast.
Prov. xii. 10.
3. As opposed to man: Any irrational animal.
4. Fig.: A coarse, brutal, filthy, or degraded fellow.
5. A game at cards similar to loo. [Obs.] Wright.
6. A penalty at beast, omber, etc. Hence: To be beasted, to be beaten at beast, omber, etc.
Beast royal, the lion. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Syn. — Beast, Brute. When we use these words in a figurative sense, as applicable to human beings,
we think of beasts as mere animals governed by animal appetite; and of brutes as being destitute of
reason or moral feeling, and governed by unrestrained passion. Hence we speak of beastly appetites;
beastly indulgences, etc.; and of brutal manners; brutal inhumanity; brutal ferocity. So, also, we say of a
drunkard, that he first made himself a beast, and then treated his family like a brute.
Beasthood
(Beast"hood) n. State or nature of a beast.
