How to Use bear down in a Sentence

bear down

verb
  • Rosé has not just jumped the shark, it's jumped the whale next to the shark and the cruise ship bearing down on the whale.
    Patrick Comiskey, latimes.com, 19 Apr. 2018
  • For the fourth time in three weeks, a nor’easter is bearing down on New York City.
    Adam K. Raymond, Daily Intelligencer, 21 Mar. 2018
  • The ad closed with the silhouette of a man on a grassy slope, staring the bear down.
    Sophie Pinkham, The New Republic, 3 May 2018
  • With a rusher bearing down on him, Stafford flipped a pass to Thomas in the back of the end zone.
    Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press, 6 Nov. 2019
  • Winds were howling, and heat bore down as flames licked the trees on the horizon.
    Claire Galofaro and Matt Sedensky, Anchorage Daily News, 14 Aug. 2023
  • The bad tooth proved obstinate, and the dentist had to bear down.
    Washington Post, 24 Aug. 2019
  • Jackson dropped a nice bounce pass to Drummond, who bore down on the rim.
    Vince Ellis, Detroit Free Press, 17 Oct. 2017
  • New York would not be the first state to bear down on its hospice sector.
    Ava Kofman, ProPublica, 19 Dec. 2022
  • Locals sometimes lament when a new chain in town bears down on a mom-and-pop shop.
    Chang-Tai Hsieh and Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, WSJ, 6 Feb. 2020
  • The deadly storm bore down on the Bahamas over the weekend with sustained winds of 185 mph.
    Thomas Frank, Scientific American, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Not to mention there’s a zombie horde bearing down from the north.
    Tom Philip, GQ, 31 Aug. 2017
  • Amid a losing streak, the Red Wings are bearing down and fighting.
    Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press, 17 Mar. 2018
  • This has been a year when the crises of the recent past continued to bear down, often in grim new ways.
    John King, San Francisco Chronicle, 27 Dec. 2021
  • As the government bears down, three things are worth keeping in mind.
    Bloomberg View, Twin Cities, 7 June 2019
  • Jose Altuve beared down and Odor's foot missed second base.
    Chandler Rome, Houston Chronicle, 30 Mar. 2018
  • Twice in his eight-year career, he’s been tipped off that an edge-rusher was bearing down on him by the roar of the crowd.
    cleveland, 25 Mar. 2020
  • Not with the school funding drama bearing down on them.
    The Kansas City Star's Editorial Board, kansascity, 4 Mar. 2018
  • Or when Aaron Donald is bearing down on him this week as the Rams fight for their playoff lives?
    Usa Today Sports, USA TODAY, 21 Dec. 2019
  • Instead, your brain should kind of notice that big truck that’s bearing down on you.
    Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes, 15 Sep. 2024
  • The hosts, who were outshot 13-2 in the first period, had plenty of chances but either missed the net or failed to bear down.
    Ross McKeon, SFChronicle.com, 1 Feb. 2020
  • The system could sense when the car was bearing down too quickly on someone’s rear bumper up ahead.
    Fortune, 31 May 2018
  • Nelson beared down and struck out the next hitter who attempted a squeeze bunt.
    Dan Shulman, BostonGlobe.com, 12 June 2018
  • New video shows the fiery wrath of Kilauea bearing down on the neighborhood of Leilani Estates.
    CBS News, 8 May 2018
  • Even bearing down on his 33rd birthday, the Rockets’ Chris Paul retains the mantle as the game’s best pure point guard.
    Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News, 31 Mar. 2018
  • The first episode ended with a big cliffhanger, as Klingon warships bore down on the Shenzhou.
    David Sims, The Atlantic, 25 Sep. 2017
  • The 11-horse field thundered out of the final turn, with favorite McKinzie in the lead and Vino Rosso bearing down on him.
    Washington Post, 4 Nov. 2019
  • Sitting 4-over par after six holes, Rose bore down, salvaged his round and ended his day in the mix.
    Edgar Thompson, OrlandoSentinel.com, 15 Mar. 2018
  • This new wave of storms is bearing down on areas already buried by heavy snowfall from the past two weeks.
    Nouran Salahieh, CNN, 13 Mar. 2023
  • His character complains to a manager and threatens to leave a negative review all while a tornado begins bearing down on the motel.
    Brenton Blanchet, Peoplemag, 21 July 2024
  • The impacts of climate change could cost the real estate sector upward of half a trillion dollars by mid-century, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund has warned in a new report, released as Hurricane Helene bears down on Florida.
    David Vetter, Forbes, 26 Sep. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bear down.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: