'To bear down upon' definitions:
Definition of 'To bear down upon'
From: GCIDE
- Bear \Bear\ (b[^a]r), v. i.
- 1. To produce, as fruit; to be fruitful, in opposition to barrenness. [1913 Webster]
- This age to blossom, and the next to bear. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To suffer, as in carrying a burden. [1913 Webster]
- But man is born to bear. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
- 3. To endure with patience; to be patient. [1913 Webster]
- I can not, can not bear. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- 4. To press; -- with on or upon, or against. [1913 Webster]
- These men bear hard on the suspected party. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
- 5. To take effect; to have influence or force; as, to bring matters to bear. [1913 Webster]
- 6. To relate or refer; -- with on or upon; as, how does this bear on the question? [1913 Webster]
- 7. To have a certain meaning, intent, or effect. [1913 Webster]
- Her sentence bore that she should stand a certain time upon the platform. --Hawthorne. [1913 Webster]
- 8. To be situated, as to the point of compass, with respect to something else; as, the land bears N. by E. [1913 Webster]
- To bear against, to approach for attack or seizure; as, a lion bears against his prey. [Obs.]
- To bear away (Naut.), to change the course of a ship, and make her run before the wind.
- To bear back, to retreat. "Bearing back from the blows of their sable antagonist." --Sir W. Scott.
- To bear down upon (Naut.), to approach from the windward side; as, the fleet bore down upon the enemy.
- To bear in with (Naut.), to run or tend toward; as, a ship bears in with the land.
- To bear off (Naut.), to steer away, as from land.
- To bear up. (a) To be supported; to have fortitude; to be firm; not to sink; as, to bear up under afflictions. (b) (Naut.) To put the helm up (or to windward) and so put the ship before the wind; to bear away. --Hamersly.
- To bear upon (Mil.), to be pointed or situated so as to affect; to be pointed directly against, or so as to hit (the object); as, to bring or plant guns so as to bear upon a fort or a ship; the artillery bore upon the center.
- To bear up to, to tend or move toward; as, to bear up to one another.
- To bear with, to endure; to be indulgent to; to forbear to resent, oppose, or punish. [1913 Webster]