Word.ws English Dictionary

bear the bell

bear the bell verb: to be the first or the leader.

Verb

bear the bell (third-person singular simple present bears the bell, present participle bearing the bell, simple past bore the bell, past participle borne the bell)

  1. To be the first or the leader.

Forms of bear the bell

third-person singular presentbears the bell
present participlebearing the bell
pastbore the bell
past participleborne the bell

Origin of bear the bell

In allusion to the bellwether of a flock, or the leading animal of a team or drove, when wearing a bell.

Questions about bear the bell

What does bear the bell mean?
Bear the bell means to be the first or the leader.
What part of speech is bear the bell?
Bear the bell is a verb.
What is the past tense of bear the bell?
The past tense of bear the bell is bore the bell.

Words near bear the bell in the dictionary

  1. bear spread
  2. bear spreads
  3. Bear State
  4. bear tamer
  5. bear tamers
  6. bear the bell
  7. bear the brunt
  8. bear the scars
  9. bear trap
  10. bear traps
  11. bear up

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bear the bell (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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