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rear
1[ reer ]
noun
- the back of something, as distinguished from the front:
The porch is at the rear of the house.
- the space or position behind something:
The bus driver asked the passengers to move to the rear.
- the hindmost portion of an army, fleet, etc.
adjective
- pertaining to or situated at the rear of something:
the rear door of a bus.
rear
2[ reer ]
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
- to rise on the hind legs, as a horse or other animal.
- (of a person) to start up in angry excitement, hot resentment, or the like (usually followed by up ).
- to rise high or tower aloft:
The skyscraper rears high over the neighboring buildings.
rear
1/ rɪə /
noun
- the back or hind part
- the area or position that lies at the back
a garden at the rear of the house
- the section of a military force or procession farthest from the front
- the buttocks See buttock
- bring up the rearto be at the back in a procession, race, etc
- in the rearat the back
- modifier of or in the rear
the rear legs
the rear side
rear
2/ rɪə /
verb
- tr to care for and educate (children) until maturity; bring up; raise
- tr to breed (animals) or grow (plants)
- tr to place or lift (a ladder, etc) upright
- tr to erect (a monument, building, etc); put up
- introften foll byup (esp of horses) to lift the front legs in the air and stand nearly upright
- intr; often foll by up or over (esp of tall buildings) to rise high; tower
- intr to start with anger, resentment, etc
Confusables Note
Derived Forms
- ˈrearer, noun
Other Words From
- un·reared adjective
- well-reared adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of rear1
Word History and Origins
Origin of rear1
Origin of rear2
Idioms and Phrases
- bring up the rear, to be at the end; follow behind:
The army retreated, and the fleeing civilian population brought up the rear.
- rear its (ugly) head. head ( def 85 ).
More idioms and phrases containing rear
- bring up the rear
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
There are drive units for front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, and an assist all-wheel drive unit, and then a pair of drive units for trucks.
Bringing up the rear, the Jaguars are clearly rebuilding after purging pretty much everyone associated with their 2017 AFC title game run over the past couple of years.
The beetles start the process by releasing a mix of hot, noxious chemicals from their rear ends.
I’m right-handed and carry my knife in my right pocket, so I like my knife clips to mount to the rear of my knife’s handle, on the right side.
The big difference is that mid-drive motors apply power through the drivetrain, while hub motors do so directly through the wheel, usually the rear.
What if you just want eyes on the back of your head, you want forward and rear-facing cameras?
George Cook, a middle-age black man from the Bronx, brought up the rear.
Shouts came from the rear of the crowd for “no violence,” shouts that went largely unheeded.
At the rear end of the park is a wall or divider maybe six or seven feet high and about twice that wide.
Kitty staggered around the corner to the rear of her building, trying to make it home.
As the bright glow of a little cascade of sparks pierced the darkness, a voice in our rear called sharply: "Hands up!"
He went himself to the kitchen, which was a building apart from the cottages and lying to the rear of the house.
If we had shot 'em without discrimination, the cowards would have got bold, seein' that they weren't safer in rear than in front.
Going back we had some long range shots with the 15-inch guns at batteries in rear of Achi Baba.
So Lawrence find Harry rode ahead, the squad some fifteen or twenty paces in the rear, leisurely following.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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