Bear"ing (bâr"&ibreve;ng), n.
1. The manner in which one bears or conducts one's
self; mien; behavior; carriage.
I know him by his bearing.
Shak.
2. Patient endurance; suffering without
complaint.
3. The situation of one object, with respect to
another, such situation being supposed to have a connection with the
object, or influence upon it, or to be influenced by it; hence, relation;
connection.
But of this frame, the bearings and the ties,
The strong connections, nice dependencies.
Pope.
4. Purport; meaning; intended significance;
aspect.
5. The act, power, or time of producing or giving
birth; as, a tree in full bearing; a tree past
bearing.
[His mother] in travail of his bearing.
R. of Gloucester.
6. (Arch.) (a) That part of
any member of a building which rests upon its supports; as, a lintel or
beam may have four inches of bearing upon the wall.
(b) The portion of a support on which anything
rests. (c) Improperly, the unsupported span; as,
the beam has twenty feet of bearing between its supports.
7. (Mach.) (a) The part of
an axle or shaft in contact with its support, collar, or boxing; the
journal. (b) The part of the support on which a
journal rests and rotates.
8. (Her.) Any single emblem or charge in an
escutcheon or coat of arms -- commonly in the pl.
A carriage covered with armorial bearings.
Thackeray.
9. (Naut.) (a) The situation
of a distant object, with regard to a ship's position, as on the bow, on
the lee quarter, etc.; the direction or point of the compass in which an
object is seen; as, the bearing of the cape was W. N. W.
(b) pl. The widest part of a vessel below the
plank-sheer. (c) pl. The line of
flotation of a vessel when properly trimmed with cargo or
ballast.
Ball bearings. See under Ball. --
To bring one to his bearings, to bring one to his
senses. -- To lose one's bearings, to become
bewildered. -- To take bearings, to ascertain by
the compass the position of an object; to ascertain the relation of one
object or place to another; to ascertain one's position by reference to
landmarks or to the compass; hence (Fig.), to ascertain the condition of
things when one is in trouble or perplexity.
Syn. -- Deportment; gesture; mien; behavior; manner; carriage;
demeanor; port; conduct; direction; relation; tendency; influence.
