bare

Less common meanings

6. 6
   no condomadverbslang

   Without the use of a condom during sexual intercourse.

   Doctors warn that going bare with a new partner raises the risk of infection.

   The clinic counsels couples about the risks of having sex bare.

   UsageUsually go bare; in clinical writing say without a condom.

   Similarbareback

   Note

   It is the same go bare that the uninsured sense uses, and the logic matches, since both mean going without protection. Researchers quote it from the people they interview, which shows its slang standing. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The expression go bare is also used for having no insurance. scholarship.law.ufl.edu
   • Researchers quote go bare from an interview participant discussing sex without condoms. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
7. 7
   heaps ofadjectivedialectalMulticultural London EnglishYorkshire

   A large quantity or number of; used before a noun to mean a lot of.

   We waited bare hours for the bus to finally show up.

   He's got bare money saved up from his summer job.

   UsageGoes before plural or uncountable nouns, with no of: bare people, bare money.

8. 8
   veryadverbdialectalMulticultural London English

   To a great degree; very, used before an adjective or adverb.

   The exam was bare hard, even for the top students.

   That last ride at the fair was bare scary.

   UsageCompare bare cold ('very cold') with bare money ('a lot of money').

   Similarreally, very, well, dead, proper

9. 9
   worn thinadjective

   Worn down until threadbare and very thin from long use.

   The stair carpet was bare where generations of feet had passed.

   Years of washing had left the towels thin and bare.

   UsageOften worn bare: a coat worn bare at the elbows.

   Similarshabby, worn

   Note

   This sense describes cloth worn down to its threads, the meaning that threadbare spells out in full. Shakespeare plays on it in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, where servants in bare liveries live by their masters' bare words. The first bare means shabby coats, and the second shifts to the "mere" meaning. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona contains this wordplay, spoken by Valentine to Thurio in Act 2, scene 4. folger.edu
   • The first 'bare' in the passage means threadbare or shabby. en.wiktionary.org
   • The second 'bare' means mere: words unaccompanied by material payment. shakespeare.mit.edu
   • 'Threadbare' describes cloth worn until its threads show. en.wiktionary.org
10. 10
    surfacenoun

    The surface of something, or the uncovered skin of the body, always used with the and followed by of.

    Vancha clasped the bare of my neck and squeezed amiably.

    2002, Darren Shan, Hunters of the dusk: 7

    Note

    A noun that lives in one frame: the bare of something, meaning its uncovered surface. John Marston's Antonio and Mellida (1602) has "the very bare of naked truth," and Darren Shan revives it in Hunters of the Dusk (2002) for the skin of a neck. It is the "naked" adjective turned into a noun, and it always comes with the and of. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • John Marston wrote Antonio and Mellida. en.wikipedia.org
    • It was first published in 1602. The first-edition title-page imprint ends with 1602. emed.folger.edu
    • The play contains the exact phrase "the very bare of naked truth." upload.wikimedia.org
    • Darren Shan's Hunters of the Dusk was first published in 2002. litres.com
    • Hunters of the Dusk uses the noun bare for the uncovered skin of a neck. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    only justadverbdialectal

    Scarcely; only just; hardly at all.

    “I've bare enough for these two, much less fill your belly.”

    2011, Elizabeth Vaughan, Warprize

    The fiend had bare departed when Ailie came over the threshold to find the auld carline glunching over the fire.

    1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide

    Similarhardly, scarcely, just

    Note

    A dialect adverb that does the work of barely without the -ly. John Buchan uses it in Scots-colored narration in The Outgoing of the Tide (1902), and Elizabeth Vaughan's Warprize (2005) gives it to a character's speech. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • John Buchan uses bare meaning barely in Scots-colored narration in The Outgoing of the Tide. en.wikisource.org
    • The Outgoing of the Tide was first published in 1902. gutenberg.net.au
    • Elizabeth Vaughan's Warprize was originally published in 2005. thebookpushers.com
    • Warprize uses bare in a character's speech, including bare enough for these two. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    carriedverbobsolete

    Past tense of bear. Obsolete; the modern form is bore.

    And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon

    1611, The Holy Bible, King James Version

    And so I put thee on my shoulder and bare thee back, and here thou art in David's room, and shalt find board and bed with me as long as thou hast mind to

    [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet

    Note

    Old texts use this spelling for the past of bear, "to carry," and it is easy to misread as the adjective. The King James Bible of 1611 has the Levites who "bare the ark of God upon their shoulders," and J. Meade Falkner still uses it in Moonfleet (1898). Modern English says bore, so read bare in such passages as "carried," not "uncovered." Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • Bare is an old past-tense form of bear. en.wiktionary.org
    • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. en.wikipedia.org
    • The quoted wording describes the Levites carrying the ark in 1 Chronicles 15:15. en.wikisource.org
    • J. Meade Falkner uses bare meaning carried in Moonfleet, in dialogue spoken by Elzevir. gutenberg.org
    • Moonfleet was first published in 1898. openlibrary.org
13. 13
    adjective

    Lacking insurance coverage; not protected by a policy against loss.
14. 14
    noun

    The exposed section of a roofing slate, shingle, tile, or metal plate left uncovered by the courses laid above it.