Link Centre Dictionary

rear

UK/ˈɹɪː/ US/ˈɹɪə/ common literary uk us
noun (5) verb (5) adjective (1)

noun

1.

the back of a military formation or procession

  • “infantrymen were in the rear”
Antonyms
2.

the side of an object that is opposite its front

  • “his room was toward the rear of the hotel”
Synonyms
Antonyms
3.

the part of something that is furthest from the normal viewer

  • “he stood at the back of the stage”
  • “it was hidden in the rear of the store”
Synonyms
Antonyms
4.

the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on

  • “he deserves a good kick in the butt”
  • “are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?”
Synonyms
5.

the side that goes last or is not normally seen

  • “he wrote the date on the back of the photograph”
Synonyms
Antonyms

verb

1.

stand up on the hind legs, of quadrupeds

  • “The horse reared in terror”
Synonyms
2.

bring up

  • “raise a family”
  • “bring up children”
Synonyms
3.

rise up

  • “The building rose before them”
Synonyms
4.

cause to rise up

Synonyms
5.

construct, build, or erect

  • “Raise a barn”
Synonyms
Antonyms

adjective

1.

located in or toward the back or rear

  • “the chair”
  • “;”
  • “;”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From Middle English reren (“to raise”), from Old English rǣran (“to raise, set upright, promote, exalt, begin, create, give rise to, excite, rouse, arouse, stir up”), from Proto-West Germanic *raiʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *raizijaną, *raisijaną (“to cause to rise, raise”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- (“to lift oneself, rise”). Cognate with Scots rere (“to construct, build, rear”), Icelandic reisa (“to raise”), Gothic 𐍂𐌰𐌹𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (raisjan, “to cause to rise, lift up, establish”), German reisen (“to travel”, literally “to rear up and depart”); and a doublet of raise. More at rise. Related to rise and raise, which is used for several of its now archaic or obsolete senses and for some of its senses that are currently more common in other dialects of English.

Phrases

  • in the rear with the gear
  • my rear
  • rear one's head
  • rear one's ugly head
  • rear up
  • rearing bit

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

Causes

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.