King James Bible Dictionary

BEARING, participle present tense Supporting; carrying; producing.

BEARING, noun Gesture; mien; behavior.

I know him by his bearing [Unusual.]

1. The situation of an object, with respect of another object, by which it is supposed to have a connection with it or influence upon it, or to be influenced by it.

But of this frame, the bearings and the ties.

2. In architecture, the space between the two fixed extremes of a piece of timber, or between one extreme and a supporter.

3. In navigation, the situation of a distant object, with regard to a ship's position, as on the bow, on the lee quarter, etc. Also, an arch of the horizon intercepted between the nearest meridian and any distant object, either discovered by the eye and referred to a point on the compass, or resulting from sinical proportion.

4. In heraldry, bearings are the coats of arms or figures of armories, by which the nobility and gentry are distinguished from common persons.

BEARING-CLOTH, noun A cloth in which a new born child is covered when carried to church to be baptized.

BEAR, noun [Latin ferus, fera, or to barbarus.]

1. A wild quadruped, of the genus Ursus. The marks of the genus are, six fore teeth in the upper jaw, alternately hollow on the inside; and six in the under jaw, the two lateral ones lobated; the dog teeth are solitary and conical; the eyes have a nictitating membrane, and the nose is prominent.

The arctos, or black bear, has his body covered with long shaggy hair. Some are found in Tartary, of a pure white color. The polar, or white bear, has a long head and neck; short, round ears; the hair long, soft, and white, tinged in some parts with yellow. He grows to a great size, the skins of some being 13 feet long. This bear lives in cold climates only, and frequently swims from one isle of ice to another.

2. The name of two constellations in the northern hemisphere, called the greater and lesser bear. In the tail of the lesser bear is the pole star.