Search Result for "ursus americanus":
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (1)

1. brown to black North American bear; smaller and less ferocious than the brown bear;
[syn: American black bear, black bear, Ursus americanus, Euarctos americanus]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Bear \Bear\ (b[^a]r), n. [OE. bere, AS. bera; akin to D. beer, OHG. bero, pero, G. b[aum]r, Icel. & Sw. bj["o]rn, and possibly to L. fera wild beast, Gr. fh`r beast, Skr. bhalla bear.] [1913 Webster] 1. (Zool.) Any species of the genus Ursus, and of the closely allied genera. Bears are plantigrade Carnivora, but they live largely on fruit and insects. [1913 Webster] Note: The European brown bear (Ursus arctos), the white polar bear (Ursus maritimus), the grizzly bear (Ursus horribilis), the American black bear, and its variety the cinnamon bear (Ursus Americanus), the Syrian bear (Ursus Syriacus), and the sloth bear, are among the notable species. [1913 Webster] 2. (Zool.) An animal which has some resemblance to a bear in form or habits, but no real affinity; as, the woolly bear; ant bear; water bear; sea bear. [1913 Webster] 3. (Astron.) One of two constellations in the northern hemisphere, called respectively the Great Bear and the Lesser Bear, or Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. [1913 Webster] 4. Metaphorically: A brutal, coarse, or morose person. [1913 Webster] 5. (Stock Exchange) A person who sells stocks or securities for future delivery in expectation of a fall in the market. [1913 Webster] Note: The bears and bulls of the Stock Exchange, whose interest it is, the one to depress, and the other to raise, stocks, are said to be so called in allusion to the bear's habit of pulling down, and the bull's of tossing up. [1913 Webster] 6. (Mach.) A portable punching machine. [1913 Webster] 7. (Naut.) A block covered with coarse matting; -- used to scour the deck. [1913 Webster] Australian bear. (Zool.) See Koala. Bear baiting, the sport of baiting bears with dogs. Bear caterpillar (Zool.), the hairy larva of a moth, esp. of the genus Euprepia. Bear garden. (a) A place where bears are kept for diversion or fighting. (b) Any place where riotous conduct is common or permitted. --M. Arnold. Bear leader, one who leads about a performing bear for money; hence, a facetious term for one who takes charge of a young man on his travels. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Black \Black\ (bl[a^]k), a. [OE. blak, AS. bl[ae]c; akin to Icel. blakkr dark, swarthy, Sw. bl[aum]ck ink, Dan. bl[ae]k, OHG. blach, LG. & D. blaken to burn with a black smoke. Not akin to AS. bl[=a]c, E. bleak pallid. [root]98.] 1. Destitute of light, or incapable of reflecting it; of the color of soot or coal; of the darkest or a very dark color, the opposite of white; characterized by such a color; as, black cloth; black hair or eyes. [1913 Webster] O night, with hue so black! --Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. In a less literal sense: Enveloped or shrouded in darkness; very dark or gloomy; as, a black night; the heavens black with clouds. [1913 Webster] I spy a black, suspicious, threatening cloud. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 3. Fig.: Dismal, gloomy, or forbidding, like darkness; destitute of moral light or goodness; atrociously wicked; cruel; mournful; calamitous; horrible. "This day's black fate." "Black villainy." "Arise, black vengeance." "Black day." "Black despair." --Shak. [1913 Webster] 4. Expressing menace, or discontent; threatening; sullen; foreboding; as, to regard one with black looks. [1913 Webster] Note: Black is often used in self-explaining compound words; as, black-eyed, black-faced, black-haired, black-visaged. [1913 Webster] Black act, the English statute 9 George I, which makes it a felony to appear armed in any park or warren, etc., or to hunt or steal deer, etc., with the face blackened or disguised. Subsequent acts inflicting heavy penalties for malicious injuries to cattle and machinery have been called black acts. Black angel (Zool.), a fish of the West Indies and Florida (Holacanthus tricolor), with the head and tail yellow, and the middle of the body black. Black antimony (Chem.), the black sulphide of antimony, Sb2S3, used in pyrotechnics, etc. Black bear (Zool.), the common American bear (Ursus Americanus). Black beast. See B[^e]te noire. Black beetle (Zool.), the common large cockroach (Blatta orientalis). Black bonnet (Zool.), the black-headed bunting (Embriza Sch[oe]niclus) of Europe. Black canker, a disease in turnips and other crops, produced by a species of caterpillar. Black cat (Zool.), the fisher, a quadruped of North America allied to the sable, but larger. See Fisher. Black cattle, any bovine cattle reared for slaughter, in distinction from dairy cattle. [Eng.] Black cherry. See under Cherry. Black cockatoo (Zool.), the palm cockatoo. See Cockatoo. Black copper. Same as Melaconite. Black currant. (Bot.) See Currant. Black diamond. (Min.) See Carbonado. Black draught (Med.), a cathartic medicine, composed of senna and magnesia. Black drop (Med.), vinegar of opium; a narcotic preparation consisting essentially of a solution of opium in vinegar. Black earth, mold; earth of a dark color. --Woodward. Black flag, the flag of a pirate, often bearing in white a skull and crossbones; a signal of defiance. Black flea (Zool.), a flea beetle (Haltica nemorum) injurious to turnips. Black flux, a mixture of carbonate of potash and charcoal, obtained by deflagrating tartar with half its weight of niter. --Brande & C. Black Forest [a translation of G. Schwarzwald], a forest in Baden and W["u]rtemburg, in Germany; a part of the ancient Hercynian forest. Black game, or Black grouse. (Zool.) See Blackcock, Grouse, and Heath grouse. Black grass (Bot.), a grasslike rush of the species Juncus Gerardi, growing on salt marshes, and making good hay. Black gum (Bot.), an American tree, the tupelo or pepperidge. See Tupelo. Black Hamburg (grape) (Bot.), a sweet and juicy variety of dark purple or "black" grape. Black horse (Zool.), a fish of the Mississippi valley (Cycleptus elongatus), of the sucker family; the Missouri sucker. Black lemur (Zool.), the Lemurniger of Madagascar; the acoumbo of the natives. Black list, a list of persons who are for some reason thought deserving of censure or punishment; -- esp. a list of persons stigmatized as insolvent or untrustworthy, made for the protection of tradesmen or employers. See Blacklist, v. t. Black manganese (Chem.), the black oxide of manganese, MnO2. Black Maria, the close wagon in which prisoners are carried to or from jail. Black martin (Zool.), the chimney swift. See Swift. Black moss (Bot.), the common so-called long moss of the southern United States. See Tillandsia. Black oak. See under Oak. Black ocher. See Wad. Black pigment, a very fine, light carbonaceous substance, or lampblack, prepared chiefly for the manufacture of printers' ink. It is obtained by burning common coal tar. Black plate, sheet iron before it is tinned. --Knight. Black quarter, malignant anthrax with engorgement of a shoulder or quarter, etc., as of an ox. Black rat (Zool.), one of the species of rats (Mus rattus), commonly infesting houses. Black rent. See Blackmail, n., 3. Black rust, a disease of wheat, in which a black, moist matter is deposited in the fissures of the grain. Black sheep, one in a family or company who is unlike the rest, and makes trouble. Black silver. (Min.) See under Silver. Black and tan, black mixed or spotted with tan color or reddish brown; -- used in describing certain breeds of dogs. Black tea. See under Tea. Black tin (Mining), tin ore (cassiterite), when dressed, stamped and washed, ready for smelting. It is in the form of a black powder, like fine sand. --Knight. Black walnut. See under Walnut. Black warrior (Zool.), an American hawk (Buteo Harlani). [1913 Webster] Syn: Dark; murky; pitchy; inky; somber; dusky; gloomy; swart; Cimmerian; ebon; atrocious. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

Ursus americanus n 1: brown to black North American bear; smaller and less ferocious than the brown bear [syn: American black bear, black bear, Ursus americanus, Euarctos americanus]