bear (down on) 1 of 2

verb

Definition of bear (down on)next
as in to weigh (on or upon)
to push steadily against with some force you need to bear down on that cap a bit to get it to latch tightly

Synonyms & Similar Words

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bear down on

2 of 2

phrase

as in highlight
to indicate the importance of by centering attention on Our manager bore down on the need to meet upcoming deadlines.

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bear (down on)
  1. press
  2. shove
  3. compress
Verb
  • Meanwhile, Israel pressed ahead with a broad military operation in the occupied West Bank in response to an attack that killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three in the city of Hebron on Friday.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 25 Oct. 2026
  • There was the woman on the sixth floor, who often forgot her keys and would press our buzzer to get Dad to go out and open the door for her.
    — Souvankham Thammavongsa, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of press
Verb
  • The acrobatic routine rushed to a conclusion with Johnson grabbing Shum and ripping off his tie, sending the actor crashing to the ground, convulsing, as each attempt to get up was met by his partner repeatedly shoving him down with her foot.
    — Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 28 Oct. 2026
  • On one April night outside the castle, several picketers were struck by a patron’s car, and a few others were shoved by the passenger who got out of the vehicle, according to video footage later aired by Fox 11 Los Angeles.
    — Alessandra Schade, Vanity Fair, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of shove
Verb
  • By adjusting the distance between the tips, the team could stretch or compress the molecular structure, changing the voltage at which the current enhancement began.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2026
  • For everyday document management, AcePDF can merge or split files, rotate or delete pages, compress large PDFs, and extract images.
    — StackCommerce Team, PC Magazine, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of compress
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Bear (down on).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bear%20%28down%20on%29. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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