| Verb | 1. | bear down - exert a force with a heavy weight; "The snow bore down on the roof"press - exert pressure or force to or upon; "He pressed down on the boards"; "press your thumb on this spot" | |
| 2. | bear down - to make a rush at or sudden attack upon, as in battle; "he saw Jess charging at him with a pitchfork" | |
| 3. | bear down - contract the abdominal muscles during childbirth to ease delivery | |
| 4. | bear down - exert full strength; "The pitcher bore down"baseball, baseball game, ball - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of 9 players; teams take turns at bat trying to score run; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empy lot"; "there was a desire for National League ball in the area"; "play ball!" fight, struggle - be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight; "the tribesmen fought each other"; "Siblings are always fighting" | |
| 5. | bear down - pay special attention to; "The lectures bore down on the political background" | |
| 6. | bear down - exert a force or cause a strain upon; "This tax bears down on the lower middle class"burden, saddle, charge - impose a task upon, assign a responsibility to; "He charged her with cleaning up all the files over the weekend" | |