Great Bear

American  

noun

Astronomy.

1. the constellation Ursa Major.

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Great Bear British  

noun

1. the English name for Ursa Major

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Example Sentences

Rana likes to follow polar bear tracks and listen to her mother’s stories: “Stories about the old ice, the long long polar night, the Great Bear and how snow foxes make light with their tails.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

With her flame-red hair and warm manner, Ayuna lives up to her Tatar-origin first name, which means "Great Bear".

From Barron's • Dec. 17, 2025

For most observers in the Northern Hemisphere, the Great Bear is close enough to the north celestial pole that it never sets below the horizon, and it rotates around the North Star once a day.

From National Geographic • Aug. 23, 2023

Consider the Great Bear Rainforest Agreement in Canada, where various groups came together to establish ecosystem-based management for a large tract of rainforest.

From Slate • May 30, 2023

The Dipper, the constellation called also the Great Bear, does not set below the horizon because a goddess once was angry at it and decreed that it should never sink into the sea.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton