5. The act, power, or time of producing or giving birth; as, a tree in full bearing; a tree past bearing.
[His mother] in travail of his bearing.
R. of Gloucester.
6. (Arch.) (a) That part of any member of a building which rests upon its supports; as, a lintel or beam may have four inches of bearing upon the wall. (b) The portion of a support on which anything rests. (c) Improperly, the unsupported span; as, the beam has twenty feet of bearing between its supports.
7. (Mach.) (a) The part of an axle or shaft in contact with its support, collar, or boxing; the journal. (b) The part of the support on which a journal rests and rotates.
8. (Her.) Any single emblem or charge in an escutcheon or coat of arms -- commonly in the pl.
A carriage covered with armorial bearings.
Thackeray.
9. (Naut.) (a) The situation of a distant object, with regard to a ship's position, as on the bow, on the lee quarter, etc.; the direction or point of the compass in which an object is seen; as, the bearing of the cape was W. N. W. (b) pl. The widest part of a vessel below the plank-sheer. (c) pl. The line of flotation of a vessel when properly trimmed with cargo or ballast.
Ball bearings. See under Ball. -- To bring one to his bearings, to bring one to his senses. -- To lose one's bearings, to become bewildered. -- To take bearings, to ascertain by the compass the position of an object; to ascertain the relation of one object or place to another; to ascertain one's position by reference to landmarks or to the compass; hence (Fig.), to ascertain the condition of things when one is in trouble or perplexity.
Syn. -- Deportment; gesture; mien; behavior; manner; carriage; demeanor; port; conduct; direction; relation; tendency; influence.
Bear"ing cloth` (klth`; 115). A cloth with which a child is covered when carried to be baptized. Shak.
Bear"ing rein` (&?;). A short rein looped over the check hook or the hames to keep the horse's head up; -- called in the United States a checkrein.
Bear"ish, a. Partaking of the qualities of a bear; resembling a bear in temper or manners. Harris.
Bear"ish*ness, n. Behavior like that of a bear.