Part 565

Beard (brd), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bearded; p. pr. & vb. n. Bearding.] 1. To take by the beard; to seize, pluck, or pull the beard of (a man), in anger or contempt.

2. To oppose to the face; to set at defiance.

No admiral, bearded by these corrupt and dissolute minions of the palace, dared to do more than mutter something about a court martial. Macaulay.

3. To deprive of the gills; -- used only of oysters and similar shellfish.

Beard"ed, a. Having a beard. "Bearded fellow." Shak. "Bearded grain." Dryden.

Bearded vulture, Bearded eagle. (Zoöl.) See Lammergeir. -- Bearded tortoise. (Zoöl.) See Matamata.

Beard"ie (brd"), n. [From Beard, n.] (Zoöl.) The bearded loach (Nemachilus barbatus) of Europe. [Scot.]

Beard"less, a. 1. Without a beard. Hence: Not having arrived at puberty or manhood; youthful.

2. Destitute of an awn; as, beardless wheat.

Beard"less*ness, n. The state or quality of being destitute of beard.

Bear"er (bâr"r), n. 1. One who, or that which, bears, sustains, or carries. "Bearers of burdens." 2 Chron. ii. 18. "The bearer of unhappy news." Dryden.

2. Specifically: One who assists in carrying a body to the grave; a pallbearer. Milton.

3. A palanquin carrier; also, a house servant. [India]

4. A tree or plant yielding fruit; as, a good bearer.

5. (Com.) One who holds a check, note, draft, or other order for the payment of money; as, pay to bearer.

6. (Print.) A strip of reglet or other furniture to bear off the impression from a blank page; also, a type or type-high piece of metal interspersed in blank parts to support the plate when it is shaved.

Bear"herd` (&?;), n. A man who tends a bear.

Bear"hound` (&?;), n. A hound for baiting or hunting bears. Carlyle.

Bear"ing (bâr"ng), n. 1. The manner in which one bears or conducts one's self; mien; behavior; carriage.

I know him by his bearing. Shak.

2. Patient endurance; suffering without complaint.

3. The situation of one object, with respect to another, such situation being supposed to have a connection with the object, or influence upon it, or to be influenced by it; hence, relation; connection.

But of this frame, the bearings and the ties, The strong connections, nice dependencies. Pope.

4. Purport; meaning; intended significance; aspect.

5. The act, power, or time of producing or giving birth; as, a tree in full bearing; a tree past bearing.

6. (Arch.) (a) That part of any member of a building which rests upon its supports; as, a lintel or beam may have four inches of bearing upon the wall. (b) The portion of a support on which anything rests. (c) Improperly, the unsupported span; as, the beam has twenty feet of bearing between its supports.

7. (Mach.) (a) The part of an axle or shaft in contact with its support, collar, or boxing; the journal. (b) The part of the support on which a journal rests and rotates.

8. (Her.) Any single emblem or charge in an escutcheon or coat of arms -- commonly in the pl.