The Meaning of Bear With Me: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know the definition of bear with me? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the word bear with me, including its definition, etymology, usage, example sentences, and more!

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What does the word bear with me mean?

According to Collins English Dictionary and the American Heritage Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, the phrase bear with me is an invitation to have patience, tolerance, or self-control with someone. This is a polite way to ask someone to have patience with you. This phrasal verb is used in both formal contexts like formal writing or professional writing and informal contexts like casual conversation. There is a common misspelling of bear often used in this phrase – “bare” with me. This is incorrect.

There are many different languages that use words that mean bear. You may notice that sometimes different languages have words that are very close to English words or to words of other languages. This is usually because the words share a root or origin. Often, cognates, which are words that look, sound, and mean something similar across languages, are formed when words share an origin. This list of translations for the word bear is provided by Word Sense.

  •  Irish: iompair‎
  •  French: porter‎
  •  Finnish: kantaa‎
  •  Catalan: portar‎
  •  Slovene: nositi‎
  •  Persian: بردن‎ (bordan)
  •  Latin: fero‎, veho‎
  •  Old Saxon: beran‎
  •  Korean: 나르다‎
  •  Italian: portare‎
  •  Hebrew: סחב‎ (sakháv), נשא‎ (nasa)
  •  Polish: nosić‎
  •  Friulian: puartâ‎
  •  Ukrainian: носи́ти‎ (impf), нести́‎ (pf)
  •  Hindi: ले जाना‎
  •  Istriot: portà‎
  •  Latvian: nest‎
  •  Occitan: portar‎
  •  Venetian: portar‎
  •  Sanskrit: भरति‎
  •  Thai: ถือ‎ (tĕu), ขน‎ (kŏn)
  •  Dalmatian: portur‎
  • ‎  Arabic: حَمَلَ
  •  Japanese: 運ぶ‎ (はこぶ, hakobu), 持って行く‎ (もっていく, motte-iku)
  •  Chinese – Mandarin: 攜帶‎, 携带‎ (xiédài), 攜‎, 携‎ (xié), 帶‎, 带‎ (dài), 運‎, 运‎ (yùn)
  •  Old English: beran‎
  •  Vietnamese: mang‎, ẵm‎, bế‎, vác‎
  •  German: tragen‎
  •  Lithuanian: nešti‎, nešioti‎
  •  Portuguese: portar‎, levar‎, carregar‎
  •  Swedish: bära‎
  •  Spanish: llevar‎
  •  Czech: nést‎
  •  Scottish Gaelic: beir‎, giùlain‎
  •  Romanian: căra‎, duce‎, purta‎, aduce‎
  •  Telugu: మోయుట‎
  •  Bulgarian: нося‎, пренасям‎
  •  Egyptian Arabic: شال‎ (šaal)
  •  Norwegian: bære‎
  •  Dutch: dragen‎, torsen‎
  •  Russian: носи́ть‎ (impf), нести́‎ (pf)
  •  Slovak: nosiť‎, niesť‎

What is the difference between bear with me and bare with me?

According to Writing Explained, the verb bear and the verb bare are homonyms, which means that they sound the same. The word bear can either be used as a noun or a verb. In its noun form, it refers to a large mammal, like a polar bear or a panda bear. As a verb, it means to have patience, endurance or forbearance, such as to bear an illness. The word bare also has two types or usage, as an adjective or a verb in English grammar. As an adjective, bare means naked, stark, or uncovered, like bare hands, bare feet, or a bare waist. As a verb, bare means to uncover or reveal, such as to bare a grin. These words have different spellings in the verb form, and the verb bear is what is used in bear with me. This confusing phrase bear with me is often used in casual conversation. To remember which similar phrase to use, think about the word forbearance. This word also contains bear – b-e-a-r, which is the correct usage for bear with me. This simple trick can help you use the right verb and correct phrase. This is the easiest way to get the correct answer. These words are not homographs, so it is important to use the right one. You could also imagine a patient bear or an impatient bear to remember to use the correct spelling of the phrase.

What are synonyms and antonyms of bear with me?

There are a variety of different words that one can use in place of the word bear with me. These are called synonyms, which are words and phrases that have the same or a similar meaning as another word or phrase. Synonyms are useful to know if you are trying to expand your vocabulary as well as if you are trying to avoid repeating yourself. This list of synonyms for the word bear with me is provided by Power Thesaurus.

  •  be one’s own man
  •  keep calm
  •  feel quite oneself
  •  hold your horses
  •  control one’s emotions
  •  make allowance
  •  be unperturbed
  •  calm yourself
  •  control oneself
  •  keep one’s temper
  •  sit tight
  •  keep it together
  •  cool your heels
  •  bide your time
  •  hold your water
  •  show forbearance
  •  get a grip of oneself
  •  be patient
  •  endure
  •  stay calm
  •  brace oneself
  •  keep cool
  •  keep shirt on
  •  go easy
  •  take your time
  •  wait
  •  put up with
  •  be unconcerned
  •  calm oneself
  •  be at leisure
  •  keep your shirt on
  •  be master of oneself
  •  keep one’s cool
  •  forbear
  •  get cool
  •  behave yourself
  •  keep one’s head
  •  compose oneself
  •  get a grip on oneself
  •  comport yourself
  •  get a grip
  •  keep one’s shirt on
  •  wait a minute
  •  bear with
  •  be apathetic
  •  suffer
  •  control yourself
  •  collect oneself
  •  take it easy
  •  contain oneself
  •  control temper

There are also numerous words and phrases that are antonyms for the word bear with me . Antonyms are words and phrases that have the opposite meaning as another word or phrase. Opposite words are helpful to know if you are trying to expand your knowledge of the English language. This list of antonyms is provided by Power Thesaurus as well.

  •  give the brush-off to
  •  say no
  •  say no to
  •  give the thumbs down
  •  refuse to accept
  •  give the red light to
  •  give something a miss
  •  refuse to take advantage of
  •  brush aside
  •  turn thumbs down
  •  return a negative
  •  lose value
  •  turn down
  •  take a rain check
  •  vote against
  •  pass up
  •  take back
  •  declare null and void
  •  not accept
  •  pop the question
  •  withhold one’s consent
  •  shake one’s head
  •  look down one’s nose at
  •  send one’s regrets
  •  call in question
  •  shake head
  •  disagree with
  •  turn one’s back on
  •  give the red light
  •  give someone the brush-off
  •  give the thumbs down to
  •  give thumbs down to
  •  shoot full of holes
  •  turn deaf ear to
  •  dissent from
  •  butt heads
  •  say nay
  •  shoot down in flames
  •  abstain from
  •  ask a favor
  •  knock back
  •  shoot down
  •  set aside
  •  declare untrue
  •  give thumbs down
  •  politely refuse
  •  throw out
  •  be disagreeable
  •  turn away

Overall, the term bear with me means to ask someone for patience or tolerance in a certain situation. This should not be confused with the term bare with me, which is incorrect.

Sources:

  1. bear: meaning, origin, translation | Word Sense 
  2. Bear with definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary 
  3. Bear With Me or Bare With Me | Writing Explained 
  4. Bear With Me synonyms – 63 Words and Phrases for Bear With Me | Power Thesaurus 
  5. Bear With antonyms – 63 Opposites of Bear With | Power Thesaurus