bear (2)

t. [BEAR, S., II. 1.] On the Stock Exchange: A cant phrase meaning to attempt to depre the price of stock. bear (1), * bêare, bêre, * bê- ore, s. [A.S. bera = bear; Dut. beer; Ger. bär ; M. H. Ger. ber ; O. H. Ger. bero, pero ; Icel. & Sw. biörn, björn ; cogn. with Lat. fer a = a wild beast.] I. Ordinary Language: I. Literally: (1) Zool .: The English name of the various species of Plantigrade mammals belonging to the Ursus and some neighbouring genera. The term plantigrade , applied to the bears, intimates that they walk on the soles of their feet; not, like the digitigrade animals, on their toes. Though having six incisor teeth in each jaw, and large canines, like the rest of the Carnivora, yet the tubercular crowns of the molar teeth show that their food is partly vegetable. They grub up roots, and, when they can obtain it, greedily devour honey. They hibernate in winter. The best-known species is Ursus arctos, the Brown Bear, of which there are several varieties. The general length is about four feet, with a height of some thirty inches at the shoulder. The colour also varies considerably. The flesh is used for food, and the hams and paws are esteemed as delicacies; the fat is made into pomade, and the skin is dre ed for robes. They are wild on the continent of Europe, in Asia, and in part of America; formerly they were found also in Britain. Other species are the Syrian Bear ( Ursus Syriacus , which is the bear of Scripture); the American Black Bear ( U. American us ); the Grizzly Bear of the same continent ( U. ferox); and the Polar Bear, U. or Thala arctos maritimus, . "... they be chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field."-2 Sam . xvii. 8. of her IMG:content-1160.png:[blocks in formation] (b) Post - pliocene Bears. One of these, Ursus priscus , seems the same as U. ferox (the Grizzly Bear). [A., I. 1.] Several bears, Ursus spelœus , arctos, and others, have been found in caves in England and elsewhere. Of these, U. spelœus , from Gr. σπήλαιος (spēlaios) = a grotto, cave, cavern, or pit, is the one called specially the Cave-bear. It is a giant species, occurring in the later rather than the earlier Post-pliocene beds. ( Nicols on : Palæont., .) 2. Figuratively : A person brave, fierce, and rough in his treatment of others, whom one holds in his control. " Fork . Call hither to the stake my two brave bears, That with the very shaking of their chains They may astonish these fell lurking curs: Bid Salisbury and Warwick come to me. ( Enter the Earls of Warwick and Salisbury.) Clif. Are these thy bears! we'll bait thy bears to death, And manacle the bear-ward in their chains, If thou darest bring them to the baiting-place." Shakesp.: 2 Hen . VI , v. 1. II. Technically: 1. On the Stock Exchange: A cant phrase for one who contracts to sell on a specified day certain stock not belonging to him, at the market price then prevailing, on receiving imaginary payment for them at the rate which obtains when the promise was made. It now becomes his interest that the stock on which he has speculated should fall in price; and he is tempted to effect this end by circulating adverse rumours regarding it; whilst the purchaser, called a "bull," sees it to his advantage to make the stock rise. The origin of the term is uncertain. Dr. Warton derives it from the proverbial expre ion of selling the skin before the bear is caught, but he does not a ign any explanation to the contrary term bull ; others point out that the action of the former is like that of a bear pulling down something with his paws, while that of the latter is suggestive of a bull to ing a person up with his horns. [BULL.] 2. Astron.: One or other of two constellations, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, called respectively the Great Bear and the Little Bear. [URSA.] When the word Bear stands alone, it signifies Ursa Major . "E'en then when Troy was by the Greeks o'erthrown, The Bear oppos'd to bright Orion shone."-Creech. 3. Naut . A block, shaggy below with matting, used to scrub the decks of ve els. The word bear is used in an attributive sense in compounds like the following: