bear

Examples

• A1

  We saw a brown bear in the forest while we were on a hiking trip in the mountains, and the guide told us to stay very still and not run because running might trigger the bear's instinct to chase.

• A1

  My little nephew has a favourite teddy bear that he takes everywhere with him and refuses to go to sleep without, which his parents find both adorable and occasionally inconvenient when they cannot find it at bedtime.

• A2

  The noise from the construction site next door is really difficult to bear — it starts at seven in the morning and continues all day, making it impossible to concentrate on work or enjoy any peace and quiet at home.

• A2

  The company logo features a bear standing on its hind legs, chosen by the founder because the bear is a symbol of strength, courage, and resilience in many cultures, and these were the values she wanted her business to represent.

• B1

  Bears hibernate during the winter months in cold climates, entering a state of reduced metabolic activity in which their body temperature drops, their heart rate slows dramatically, and they live off stored body fat accumulated during the preceding autumn when they engage in hyperphagia — eating as much food as possible to build up the fat reserves needed to survive the months when food is unavailable.

• B1

  In financial markets, a "bear market" — defined as a decline of twenty percent or more from recent highs, typically accompanied by pessimistic investor sentiment and negative economic news — is contrasted with a "bull market" characterised by rising prices and optimistic sentiment, with the metaphorical distinction possibly deriving from the different ways these animals attack their prey (the bear clawing downward, the bull thrusting upward with its horns).

• B2

  The ecological relationships between bears and their environments illustrate the concept of a "keystone species" — one whose impact on its ecosystem is disproportionately large relative to its abundance: by catching salmon and carrying them inland, brown bears transfer marine nutrients deep into the forest; by breaking up dead wood and turning soil while foraging, they create habitat for other species; and their roles as seed dispersers and predators have cascading effects on vegetation structure and prey animal populations that make their presence or absence transformative for the entire ecosystem.

• B2

  The legal doctrine of "bearing witness" — the obligation to testify truthfully about what one has directly observed — occupies a central place in common law traditions, with the oath sworn by witnesses representing both a legal requirement and a moral commitment that connects legal procedure to broader norms of truthfulness and social responsibility, while the concept of "false witness" and its condemnation in diverse religious and legal traditions reflects the fundamental importance of testimony to the maintenance of social trust and the functioning of justice systems.