rear

SayREER/ɹɪ(ə)ɹ/UK/ɹɪə̯/

Noun pluralrears

Verbrears, rearing, reared

18 meanings of rear

Practice

1
at the backadjective
Positioned at the back or in the hindmost part of something.
The rear entrance is reserved for staff deliveries.
Passengers in the rear cars felt the jolt first.
UsageUse rear before a noun: the rear seats, a rear window. To state their position, say: the seats are at the back.
Similarback, hind, hindmost, posterior
Oppositefront, fore
2
nouncountable
The back or hindmost part of something, including the part of an army or fleet farthest from the front; what comes last in order.
The kitchen sits at the rear of the building.
Stragglers gathered at the rear of the procession.
UsageUsually at the rear of something. To bring up the rear is to come last.
Similarback, tail, end
Oppositefront, head
3
verbtransitive
To care for and bring up children or young animals until they are fully grown; also, to breed and raise animals such as livestock.
He helped rear his grandchildren on a small farm.
Communities once shared the work of rearing the young.
UsageCommon in born and reared and in farming (rear cattle). For children, bring up or raise is more usual in everyday talk.
Similarraise, nurture, breed
Note
The sense closest to the word's root: Old English rǣran meant "to cause to rise," so rearing a child is literally raising one. The older pairing with up is still there when Thomas Southerne writes of a father who will "rear him up to virtue" (1694). The same idea of making something rise runs through the other raising senses, from animals to heads to buildings.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
The raising verb descends from Old English rǣran, meaning to raise or cause to rise. en.wiktionary.org
The quoted wording occurs in the play, spoken by Carlos about a child's need for a father. upload.wikimedia.org
The animal-rearing, head-raising and building senses belong to the same raising verb. en.wiktionary.org
4
bottomnouncountable
A polite or mild word for the buttocks.
She gave the lazy dog a gentle pat on its rear.
He fell off the ladder and badly bruised his rear.
UsageCommon in on your rear: land on your rear. Rear end is also used.
Similarbottom, behind, backside, posterior, rump
5
verbliterarytransitive
To lift something up or make it rise, either physically or in a figurative sense, such as raising someone morally or spiritually.
The cobra reared its hooded head above the tall grass.
Jealousy can rear its ugly head even in the closest friendships.
UsageOutside poetry, mostly in rear its ugly head, said of a problem that appears and starts causing trouble.
Similarraise, lift, elevate
Oppositelower, drop
Note
In Milton's Paradise Lost (1667), one who falls in adoration is reared to his feet, and Lord Lytton's Rienzi (1835) rears a banner.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
John Milton wrote Paradise Lost, first published in 1667. christs.cam.ac.uk
Paradise Lost describes someone being lifted after falling in adoration. gutenberg.org
Edward Bulwer-Lytton wrote Rienzi, published in 1835. en.wikipedia.org
Rienzi uses rear of raising a banner, in the character Rienzi's speech. gutenberg.org

Less common meanings

6
on back legsverbintransitive
To rise up on the hind legs, as a horse or other animal does.
Horses rear when they feel threatened or startled.
The pony reared suddenly, throwing its rider into the mud.
UsageOften rear up: the horse reared up and threw its rider.
7
tower aboveverbintransitive
To rise high above, towering over what surrounds it.
The mountains rear sharply above the coastal plain.
Ahead, the castle walls reared against the gray sky.
UsageOften with above or over: cliffs rear above the village.
Similartower, loom, rise, soar
8
get angryverbintransitive
To become angry; to flare up in temper.
My grandfather would rear up at the smallest hint that he was too old to drive.
The coach reared up at the referee after the disputed call.
UsageUsually rear up, often with at: rear up at a critic or an insult.
Similarflare, bristle
9
verbraretransitive
To place something in the back position, or to guard and secure the back of a force or area.
10
verbraretransitive
To construct or set up by building, such as a structure or monument.
One reared a font of stone.
1847, Alfred Tennyson, The Princess
to rear defenses or houses
Similarerect, build, raise, construct
Oppositedemolish
11
verbobsoletetransitive
To cause something to move; to stir it.
Similarstir, disturb, churn
Note
A different verb from the one meaning "raise", though the two now share a spelling. This one descends from Old English hrēran, "to move, shake, agitate", and further back from a root meaning "to mix, stir, cook". It takes an object: a current rears the silt, someone rears the coals.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
The verb meaning 'move, stir' has a different origin from rear meaning 'raise'. en.wiktionary.org
Rear meaning 'move, stir' descends from Old English hrēran, meaning 'to move, shake, agitate'. en.wiktionary.org
Its deeper etymology leads to a root meaning 'to mix, stir, cook'. en.wiktionary.org
12
verbobsoletetransitive
To carve a goose at the table, one of the old carvers' terms each reserved for a particular bird or animal.
Similarcarve
Note
A carving verb tied to one bird: the command at table was "Rear that goose!"
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Rear was a carving term specifically associated with geese. en.wiktionary.org
The historical carving instruction was 'rear that goose'. gutenberg.org
13
verbobsoletetransitive
To lift up and take up; to raise something and carry it off.
And hauing her from Trompart lightly reard, / Vpon his Courser set the louely lode,
1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene
Note
Lifting and taking away happen in one motion here. In Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1590), a lady is "lightly reard" from Trompart and set upon a courser. That is the sense in full: up off one place and onto another.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Edmund Spenser wrote The Faerie Queene. themorgan.org
The Faerie Queene first appeared in 1590, including the book containing this passage. themorgan.org
The passage describes a lady being 'lightly reard' from Trompart and placed on a courser. en.wikisource.org
14
verbobsoletetransitive
To rouse; to stir someone up into action.
And seeks the tusky boar to rear.
1684, John Dryden, The Second Epode of Horace
Note
A hunter's use, now obsolete. In John Dryden's The Second Epode of Horace (1685), the countryman "seeks the tusky boar to rear," meaning he rouses the animal and starts it moving. Rousing people to action is the same motion of making something rise.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
John Dryden produced the English translation titled The Second Epode of Horace. gutenberg.org
The poem contains the quoted wording in a description of country hunting. gutenberg.org
Rear here means to rouse the animal. en.wiktionary.org
15
verbobsolete
To bring back from death or lifelessness; occurs only in the phrase rear to life.
Note
A fixed phrase, never a free verb: something is reared to life, as in "he reareth to life the dead," said of one who also heals the blind. It sits naturally beside the stirring verb from the same Old English source, since quickening is a stirring into motion.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
The revival sense is restricted to the phrase rear to life. en.wiktionary.org
The quoted wording occurs alongside a statement that the same person heals the blind. en.wiktionary.org
The revival and stirring senses share an Old English source, hrēran. en.wiktionary.org
16
adjectivedialectal
Of food such as meat or eggs, cooked only lightly so that it stays underdone; rare.
Fred ordered a rear steak along with a glass of beer as he took a seat at an empty table
2017, Dr. Ardeshir Irani, Short Tales of the Old Wild West
17
verbrare
To sodomize someone; to perform anal sex on a person.
18
adverbdialectalBritish
Early; at an early hour or soon.
Then why does Cuddy leave his cot so rear!
1714, John Gay, The Shepherd's Week

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of rear apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 3, 5–8, 10, 13–14

Old English rǣran, meaning to raise, set upright or rouse, became Middle English reren ("to raise"). It goes back through Proto-Germanic to *h₁rey-, a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to lift oneself, rise." Raise is a doublet and rise is related, and Icelandic reisa and Gothic raisjan are cognates.

Meanings 1–2, 4, 9

Latin retro is the ultimate source. It came through Anglo-Norman rere into Middle English, where it was also rere. Retro is a doublet, and arrear is comparable.

Meanings 11–12, 15

Old English hrēran, meaning to move, shake or agitate, became Middle English reren. It comes from Proto-Germanic *hrōzijaną ("to stir"), which goes back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to mix, stir, cook." Dutch roeren and German rühren are cognates.