- bear
- bear vb1 *carry, convey, transport, transmitAnalogous words: *move, remove, shift, transfer: hold, *contain2 Bear, produce, yield, turn out are comparable when they mean to bring forth as products.Bear usually implies a giving birth to offspring or a bringing of fruit to maturity, though it may be extended to something which tends to reproduce itself or to aid reproduction{
she bore three children
}{the apple trees bear every year
}{the soil is not rich enough to bear crops
}{the seed he sowed bore fruit
}{the bank deposit bears a low interest
}Produce is far wider in its range of application, for it, unlike bear, carries no clear implication of a carrying during a period of development prior to the bringing forth; it may be used of almost any bringing forth or into view whether by human or natural agency{he produced the book for his friends' inspection
}{nobody could produce the desired witness
}It may apply more specifically to the bringing forth of something as issue of one's body, one's mind, or one's imagination or as an output of labor or effort{it is necessary for the colleges to produce straight thinkers
}{the plantation produces a vast amount of cotton
}{the factory produces more shoes than ever
}{Raphael produced an unusual number of widely known paintings
}{he feels he can never produce another book as good as the one he has just written
}{the glands produce secretions
}Yield (see also RELINQUISH, YIELD) fundamentally implies a giving out (as of something within the confines of a thing or within one's power of production); it therefore stresses the outcome, result, return, or reward and not the previous effort or endurance{land that could be counted on to yield good crops year after year
}{two kinds of classics . . . those that yield their meaning at the first encounter and those that we have to discover by effort and insight— Brooks
}{the discovery of . . . its [calcium carbide's] reaction with ordinary water to yield a highly flammable gas, acetylene— Morrison
}Turn out, like yield, stresses the outcome or result, but it implies previous and especially mechanical labor or effort{the company promises to turn out 300 airplanes a month
}{the main object is to turn out good Englishmen— Inge
}Analogous words: reproduce, propagate, breed, *generate3 Bear, suffer, endure, abide, tolerate, stand, brook denote to sustain something trying or painful. Bear and suffer are also synonyms in their more comprehensive denotation, to sustain whatever is imposed{this theory will bear examination
}{the stone suffers no alteration in a colder climate
}Both verbs, however, are more often used in their specific senses because of their customary reference, with bear, to things that are heavy or difficult or, with suffer, to things that are painful or injurious.Bear suggests more the power to sustain than the manner in which something is sustained{water as hot as one can bear it
}{his decency which has made him bear prolonged and intolerable humiliation with control and courtesy— Mannes
}{bear affliction
}Suffer more often implies acceptance of infliction than patience or courage in bearing{I am waylaid by Beauty . . . Oh, savage Beauty, suffer me to pass— Millay
}{being a man of uncommon spirit, he never suffered the least insult or affront to pass unchastised— Smollett
}Endure and abide usually refer to long-continued trials or sufferings borne without giving in.Endure usually connotes stamina or firmness of mind, while abide suggests patience and submission{I am able now, methinks ... to endure more miseries and greater far— Shak.
}{what fates impose, that men must needs abide— Shak.
}Tolerate and stand imply overcoming one's own resistance to what is distasteful or antagonistic.Tolerate often connotes failure to resist through indifference or, sometimes, through a desire for peace or harmony{tolerate differences in opinion
}{Archer's New York tolerated hypocrisy in private relations; but in business matters it exacted . . . impeccable honesty— Wharton
}Stand is often used in place of bear, but distinctively it implies the ability to keep from flinching{he can stand teasing
}{he stood the attack well
}Brook occurs chiefly in negative constructions and implies self-assertion and defiance{restraint she will not brook— Milton
}{he is not well-born enough to succeed there, and his sense of intellectual superiority did not brook subordination- Laski
}The other verbs are also used commonly in negative clauses but with weakened emphasis. In such constructions bear (with the negative) commonly implies dislike, suffer rejection, endure intolerance, abide im-patience, tolerate contempt, and stand repugnance.4 *press, bear down, squeeze, crowd, jam5 Bear, relate, pertain, appertain, belong, apply are comparable when used intransitively with the meaning to have a connection, especially a logical connection. One thing bears on or upon another thing when the first touches so directly upon the second (usually something in question) as to carry appreciable weight in its solution or in the understanding of issues it involves{ignore all facts except those that bear upon this particular case
}{this situation bears directly upon the question under discussion
}One thing relates to another thing when there is some connection between them which permits or, more often, requires them to be considered together with reference to their effect upon each other. The connection implied is usually closer in the intransitive than in the transitive verb (see JOIN), being commonly one of dependence or interdependence{in an organism each part relates to every other part
}{show how the demand relates to the supply
}{each incident relates to the plot
}{a detail in a painting relates to the design of the whole
}{the duties of the citizen, as he understood them, related not only to acts, but also to thoughts— Mencken
}One thing pertains or appertains to another when there is a connection that permits their association in practice or thought. Both of these words are more widely applicable than bear and relate, for they cover not only the connections specifically implied in those words but also those close connections implied by belong and those remote connections implied by have to do with; thus, the things that pertain to happiness are all the things that can be thought of as causing, contributing to, preventing, or affecting the quality of happiness{moral philosophy is the branch of philosophy that deals with all problems pertaining to morals or ethics
}Pertain more often implies a necessary connection or a very close relation than the more formal appertain, which commonly suggests an incidental or acquired connection{a . . . faithful high priest in things pertaining to God— Heb 2:17
}{the crown and all wide-stretched honors that pertain by custom and the ordinance of times unto the crown of France— Shak.
}{to that simple object appertains a story— Wordsworth
}Belong, usually with to, implies a relation in which one thing is a part or element without which another cannot exist, function, have its true character or being, or be complete. In this sense a thing that belongs is a property, an attribute, a duty, or a proper concern{the Government of the United States . . . does not possess all the powers which usually belong to the sovereignty of a nation— Taney
}{nor does value belong to what concerns man only— Alexander
}But belong also may be used of things as they pertain to persons, then implying possession{the watch belongs to James
}{this land belongs to the government
}or informally of persons with reference to their qualifications for fitting into a group, especially a social group{she's smart and jolly and everything, but she just doesn't belong— Ferber
}Apply, also with to, implies a relation in which a more inclusive category (as a law, a principle, a rule, a theory, a general term) covers a less inclusive specific instance, usually also explaining, interpreting, or describing the latter or having some clear bearing upon it{the rules of addition apply to our debts as rigorously as to our assets— James
}{he really was the one child to whom the "spare-the-rod" precept did not apply—he was naturally good— Deland
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.