Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - rear

(rears, rearing, reared) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. The rear of something such as a building or vehicle is the back part of it. He settled back in the rear of the taxi. ...a stairway in the rear of the building. = back ? front N-SING: the N, usu N of n • Rear is also an adjective. Manufacturers have been obliged to fit rear seat belts in all new cars. ADJ: ADJ n 2. If you are at the rear of a moving line of people, you are the last person in it. (FORMAL) Musicians played at the front and rear of the procession... = back ? front N-SING: the N, usu N of n 3. Your rear is the part of your body that you sit on. (INFORMAL) I turned away from the phone to see Lewis pat a waitress on her rear. = behind N-COUNT: usu poss N 4. If you rear children, you look after them until they are old enough to look after themselves. She reared sixteen children, six her own and ten her husband’s... = bring up, raise VERB: V n 5. If you rear a young animal, you keep and look after it until it is old enough to be used for work or food, or until it can look after itself. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use raise) She spends a lot of time rearing animals. VERB: V n 6. When a horse rears, it moves the front part of its body upwards, so that its front legs are high in the air and it is standing on its back legs. The horse reared and threw off its rider. VERB: V 7. If you say that something such as a building or mountain rears above you, you mean that is very tall and close to you. The exhibition hall reared above me behind a high fence... = loom VERB: V prep/adv 8. If a person or vehicle is bringing up the rear, they are the last person or vehicle in a moving line of them. ...police motorcyclists bringing up the rear of the procession. PHRASE: V inflects 9. If something unpleasant rears its head or rears its ugly head, it becomes visible or noticeable. The threat of strikes reared its head again this summer... PHRASE: V and N inflect