Definition of "rear" in English

verb

1. (transitive) To bring up to maturity, as offspring; to educate; to instruct; to foster.

2. (transitive, said of people towards animals) To breed and raise.

   • The family has been rearing cattle for 200 years.

3. (intransitive) To rise up on the hind legs.

   • The horse was shocked, and thus reared.

4. (intransitive, usually with "up") To get angry.

5. (intransitive) To rise high above, tower above.

6. (transitive, literary) To raise physically or metaphorically; to lift up; to cause to rise, to elevate.

   • Poverty reared its ugly head. (appeared, started, began to have an effect)
   • The monster slowly reared its head.

7. (transitive, rare) To construct by building; to set up

   • to rear defenses or houses
   • to rear one government on the ruins of another.

8. (transitive, rare) To raise spiritually; to lift up; to elevate morally.

9. (transitive, obsolete) To lift and take up.

10. (transitive, obsolete) To rouse; to strip up.

adjective

1. Being behind, or in the hindmost part; hindmost..

   • the rear rank of a company
   • sit in the rear seats of a car

adverb

1. (British, dialect) early; soon

noun

1. The back or hindmost part; that which is behind, or last in order.

2. (military) Specifically, the part of an army or fleet which comes last, or is stationed behind the rest.

3. (anatomy) The buttocks or bottom.

verb

1. To place in the rear; to secure the rear of.

2. (transitive, vulgar, British) To sodomize (perform anal sex)

verb

1. (transitive) To move; stir.

2. (transitive, of geese) To carve.

   • Rear that goose!

3. (regional, obsolete) To revive, bring to life, quicken. (only in the phrase, to rear to life)

   • He healeth the blind and he reareth to life the dead.

adjective

1. (now chiefly dialectal) (of eggs) Underdone; nearly raw.

2. (chiefly US) (of meats) Rare.