rear
verbEtymology
From Middle English reren (“to raise”), from Old English rǣran (“to raise, set upright, promote, exalt, begin, create, give rise to, excite, rouse, arouse, stir up”), from Proto-West Germanic *raiʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *raizijaną, *raisijaną (“to cause to rise, raise”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- (“to lift oneself, rise”). Cognate with Scots rere (“to construct, build, rear”), Icelandic reisa (“to raise”), Gothic 𐍂𐌰𐌹𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (raisjan, “to cause to rise, lift up, establish”), German reisen (“to travel”, literally “to rear up and depart”); and a doublet of raise. More at rise. Related to rise and raise, which is used for several of its now archaic or obsolete senses and for some of its senses that are currently more common in other dialects of English.
- derived from *h₁rey-✻
- inherited from *raizijaną✻
- inherited from *raiʀijan✻
- inherited from rǣran
Definitions
To bring up to maturity, as offspring
To bring up to maturity, as offspring; to educate; to instruct; to foster.
- He wants a father to protect his youth, and rear him up to virtue.
To breed and raise.
- The family has been rearing cattle for 200 years.
To rise up on the hind legs.
- The horse was shocked, and thus reared.
›+ 19 more definitionsshow fewer
To get angry.
To rise high above, tower above.
- By my side reared a solid stone wall, and beneath was simply the room we stood in, for the space below the stairway was not enclosed.
To raise physically or metaphorically
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.
- In adoration at his feet I fell Submiss; he reared me.
To construct by building
To construct by building; to set up
- to rear defenses or houses
- to rear one government on the ruins of another.
- One reared a font of stone.
To raise spiritually
To raise spiritually; to lift up; to elevate morally.
- It reareth our hearts from vain thoughts.
To lift and take up.
- And hauing her from Trompart lightly reard, / Vpon his Courser set the louely lode,
To rouse
To rouse; to strip up.
- And seeks the tusky boar to rear.
Being behind, or in the hindmost part
Being behind, or in the hindmost part; hindmost.
- the rear rank of a company
- sit in the rear seats of a car
early
early; soon
- Then why does Cuddy leave his cot so rear!
The back or hindmost part
The back or hindmost part; that which is behind, or last in order.
- Nipt with the lagging rear of winters froſt.
Specifically, the part of an army or fleet which comes last, or is stationed behind the…
Specifically, the part of an army or fleet which comes last, or is stationed behind the rest.
- When the fierce Foe hung on our brok'n Rear
The buttocks or bottom.
To place in the rear
To place in the rear; to secure the rear of.
To sodomize (perform anal sex)
To move
To move; stir.
To carve.
- Rear that goose!
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.
(of eggs) Underdone
(of eggs) Underdone; nearly raw.
(of meats) Rare.
- Fred ordered a rear steak along with a glass of beer as he took a seat at an empty table
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at rear. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at rear. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
6 hops · closes at rear
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA