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cave bear
noun
: a very large extinct bear (Ursus spelaeus) known especially from Pleistocene deposits in European caves
Examples of cave bear in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Another possible flute from Slovenia, made from a cave bear femur, was dated to over 50,000 years ago and is suggested to have been made by Neanderthals.
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Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Oct. 2024
Related article Stone Age humans stepped out in cave bear fur 300,000 years ago
However, historical evidence exists for earlier tools that were used for making clothes, albeit with less precision.
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Jacopo Prisco, CNN, 8 July 2024
The researchers also concluded that hibernating cave bears and denning hyenas primarily used the cave, which had only periodic human presence.
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Katie Hunt, CNN, 1 Feb. 2024
Inspection of nearby animal teeth and bones revealed that these early humans existed amid a harsh, tundra landscape populated by reindeer, cave bears, horses and woolly rhinoceros in conditions comparable to modern Siberia or northern Scandinavia.
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Catherine Duncan, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Feb. 2024
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Word History
First Known Use
1865, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near cave bear
Cite this Entry
“Cave bear.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cave%20bear. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
More from Merriam-Webster on cave bear
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about cave bear
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