bear down

English

Verb

to bear down (third-person singular simple present bears down, present participle bearing down, simple past bore down, past participle borne down)

1. Used other than as an idiom: see bear,‎ down.
2. (nautical) To approach from windward.
3. To push (someone) to the ground; to defeat, overcome. [from 14th c.]
4. (obsolete) To maintain one's position against (someone) in a debate; to stand one's ground against. [16th-17th c.]
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts XII:

     And they sayd unto her: thou arte mad. And she bare them doune that hit was even so.

5. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) To intensify one's efforts

   It's 9:41, 58 degrees, and I'm flunking out. Time to bear down.

6. (intransitive) This word needs a definition. Please help out and add a definition, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
   • 2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke”, BBC Sport:

     Huth headed wide inside two minutes, Andy Wilkinson blasted over from Shotton's cut-back and Jones was squeezed out when bearing down on goal.

Anagrams

• rawboned