bear down on

verb

1. sail towards another vessel, of a ship (Freq. 2)

• Syn: ↑bear down upon

• Topics: ↑navigation, ↑pilotage, ↑piloting

• Hypernyms:

↑approach, ↑near, ↑come on, ↑go up, ↑draw near, ↑draw close, ↑come near

• Entailment: ↑sail

• Verb Frames:

-

Somebody ——s

2. exert a force with a heavy weight

-

The snow bore down on the roof

• Syn: ↑drag down, ↑bear down, ↑press down on, ↑weigh down

• Hypernyms: ↑press

• Verb Frames:

-

Something ——s something

* * *

ADVANCE ON, close in on, move in on, converge on.

→ bear

* * *

phrasal or bear down upon

1. : to sail toward often in force or with hostile intent

an enemy frigate bearing down on the sloop

: proceed toward especially impressively, awesomely, or forcibly

2. : to give major attention to : stress

a lecture that bore down on economic causes

3. : to weigh heavily on : afflict, burden : treat in a noticeably demanding way

a tax that bore down on the poorer groups

bear down on a man whose work has fallen off

* * *

move quickly toward someone, in a purposeful or an intimidating manner

■ take strict measures to deal with

a commitment to bear down on inflation

* * *

bear down on [phrasal verb]

1 bear down on (something) : to push or lean down on (something)

The old man bore down heavily on his cane.

She bore down hard on her pencil.

2 bear down on (someone) : to place pressure on (someone)

Don't let your problems bear down too hard on you. [=don't let your problems weigh you down]

3 bear down on (someone or something) : to approach or move toward (something or someone) quickly and in a frightening or impressive way

The enemy battleship bore down on us.

• • •

Main Entry: ↑bear