Bear n.
 1. Zool. Any species of the genus Ursus, and of the closely allied genera.  Bears are plantigrade Carnivora, but they live largely on fruit and insects.
 Note: The European brown bear (Ursus arctos), the white polar bear (Ursus maritimus), the grizzly bear (Ursus horribilis), the American black bear, and its variety the cinnamon bear (Ursus Americanus), the Syrian bear (Ursus Syriacus), and the sloth bear, are among the notable species.
 2. Zool. An animal which has some resemblance to a bear in form or habits, but no real affinity; as, the woolly bear; ant bear; water bear; sea bear.
 3. Astron. One of two constellations in the northern hemisphere, called respectively the Great Bear and the Lesser Bear, or Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.
 4. Metaphorically: A brutal, coarse, or morose person.
 5. Stock Exchange A person who sells stocks or securities for future delivery in expectation of a fall in the market.
 Note: ☞ The bears and bulls of the Stock Exchange, whose interest it is, the one to depress, and the other to raise, stocks, are said to be so called in allusion to the bear's habit of pulling down, and the bull's of tossing up.
 6. Mach. A portable punching machine.
 7. Naut. A block covered with coarse matting; -- used to scour the deck.
 Australian bear. Zool. See Koala.
 Bear baiting, the sport of baiting bears with dogs.
 Bear caterpillar Zool., the hairy larva of a moth, esp. of the genus Euprepia.
 Bear garden. (a) A place where bears are kept for diversion or fighting. (b) Any place where riotous conduct is common or permitted. --M. Arnold.
 Bear leader, one who leads about a performing bear for money; hence, a facetious term for one who takes charge of a young man on his travels.
 Great a. [Compar. Greater superl. Greatest.]
 1. Large in space; of much size; big; immense; enormous; expanded; -- opposed to small and little; as, a great house, ship, farm, plain, distance, length.
 2. Large in number; numerous; as, a great company, multitude, series, etc.
 3. Long continued; lengthened in duration; prolonged in time; as, a great while; a great interval.
 4. Superior; admirable; commanding; -- applied to thoughts, actions, and feelings.
 5. Endowed with extraordinary powers; uncommonly gifted; able to accomplish vast results; strong; powerful; mighty; noble; as, a great hero, scholar, genius, philosopher, etc.
 6. Holding a chief position; elevated: lofty: eminent; distinguished; foremost; principal; as, great men; the great seal; the great marshal, etc.
    He doth object I am too great of birth.   --Shak.
 7. Entitled to earnest consideration; weighty; important; as, a great argument, truth, or principle.
 8. Pregnant; big (with young).
    The ewes great with young.   --Ps. lxxviii. 71.
 9. More than ordinary in degree; very considerable in degree; as, to use great caution; to be in great pain.
 We have all
 Great cause to give great thanks.   --Shak.
 10. Genealogy Older, younger, or more remote, by single generation; -- often used before grand to indicate one degree more remote in the direct line of descent; as, great-grandfather (a grandfather's or a grandmother's father), great-grandson, etc.
 Great bear (Astron.), the constellation Ursa Major.
 Great cattle (Law), all manner of cattle except sheep and yearlings. --Wharton.
 Great charter Eng. Hist., Magna Charta.
 Great circle of a sphere, a circle the plane of which passes through the center of the sphere.
 Great circle sailing, the process or art of conducting a ship on a great circle of the globe or on the shortest arc between two places.
 Great go, the final examination for a degree at the University of Oxford, England; -- called also greats.  --T. Hughes.
 Great guns. Naut. See under Gun.
 The Great Lakes the large fresh-water lakes (Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) which lie on the northern borders of the United States.
 Great master.  Same as Grand master, under Grand.
 Great organ  Mus., the largest and loudest of the three parts of a grand organ (the others being the choir organ and the swell, and sometimes the pedal organ or foot keys), It is played upon by a separate keyboard, which has the middle position.
 The great powers (of Europe), in modern diplomacy, Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, and Italy.
 Great primer. See under Type.
 Great scale (Mus.), the complete scale; -- employed to designate the entire series of musical sounds from lowest to highest.
 Great sea, the Mediterranean sea. In Chaucer both the Black and the Mediterranean seas are so called.
 Great seal. (a) The principal seal of a kingdom or state. (b) In Great Britain, the lord chancellor  (who is custodian of this seal); also, his office.
 Great tithes. See under Tithes.
 The great, the eminent, distinguished, or powerful.
 The Great Spirit, among the North American Indians, their chief or principal deity.
 To be great (with one), to be intimate or familiar (with him). --Bacon.
 Great Bear
      n : a constellation outside the Zodiac that rotates around the
          North Star [syn: Ursa Major]