Definition of "bearing" in English

verb

1. present participle and gerund of bear

adjective

1. (in combination) That bears (some specified thing).

   • a gift-bearing visitor

2. Of a beam, column, or other device, carrying weight or load.

   • That's a bearing wall.

noun

1. (mechanical engineering) A mechanical device that supports another part or reduces friction.

2. (navigation, nautical) The horizontal angle between the direction of an object and another object, or between it and that of true north; a heading or direction.

3. (in the plural, especially in phrases such as 'get one's bearings') One's understanding of one's orientation or relative position, literally or figuratively.

   • Do we go left here or straight on? Hold on, let me just get my bearings.
   • I started a new job last week, and I still haven't quite found my bearings.

4. Relevance; a relationship or connection.

   • That has no bearing on this issue.

5. One's posture, demeanor, or manner.

   • She walks with a confident, self-assured bearing.

6. (architecture) That part of any member of a building which rests upon its supports.

   • A lintel or beam may have four inches of bearing upon the wall.

7. (architecture) The portion of a support on which anything rests.

8. (architecture, proscribed) The unsupported span.

   • The beam has twenty feet of bearing between its supports.

9. (heraldry) Any single emblem or charge in an escutcheon or coat of arms.

   • Holonyms: shield, escutcheon