# rear

Pronunciation: say "REER" US /ɹɪ(ə)ɹ/, UK /ɹɪə̯/

## Adjective

1. Positioned at the back or in the hindmost part of something.
   - Simple: Located at the back of something, not the front.
   - _The rear entrance is reserved for staff deliveries._
   - _Passengers in the rear cars felt the jolt first._

## Noun

2. The back or hindmost part of something, including the part of an army or fleet farthest from the front; what comes last in order.
   - Simple: The back part of something, including the soldiers or ships at the back.
   - _The kitchen sits at the rear of the building._
   - _Stragglers gathered at the rear of the procession._
4. A polite or mild word for the buttocks.
   - Simple: A polite word for a person's bottom.
   - _She gave the lazy dog a gentle pat on its rear._
   - _He fell off the ladder and badly bruised his rear._

## Verb

3. To care for and bring up children or young animals until they are fully grown; also, to breed and raise animals such as livestock.
   - Simple: To look after children or young animals until they are grown up, or to keep and breed animals.
   - _He helped rear his grandchildren on a small farm._
   - _Communities once shared the work of rearing the young._
6. To rise up on the hind legs, as a horse or other animal does.
   - Simple: When an animal rises up onto its back legs.
   - _Horses rear when they feel threatened or startled._
   - _The pony reared suddenly, throwing its rider into the mud._
5. To lift something up or make it rise, either physically or in a figurative sense, such as raising someone morally or spiritually. *(literary)*
   - Simple: To lift something up or make it rise, or to raise someone to a better, higher state.
   - _The cobra reared its hooded head above the tall grass._
   - _Jealousy can rear its ugly head even in the closest friendships._
7. To rise high above, towering over what surrounds it.
   - Simple: To rise up high and tower over the things nearby.
   - _The mountains rear sharply above the coastal plain._
   - _Ahead, the castle walls reared against the gray sky._
8. To become angry; to flare up in temper.
   - Simple: To become angry or upset.
   - _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._

## Verb

9. To place something in the back position, or to guard and secure the back of a force or area. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To put something at the back, or to protect the back of a group.
10. To construct or set up by building, such as a structure or monument. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To build something or put it up, such as a wall or monument.
11. To cause something to move; to stir it. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To move or stir something.
12. To carve a goose at the table, one of the old carvers' terms each reserved for a particular bird or animal. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old word meaning to cut up a cooked goose at the table.
13. To lift up and take up; to raise something and carry it off. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To lift something up and take it.
14. To rouse; to stir someone up into action. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To wake someone up or stir them into action.
15. To bring back from death or lifelessness; occurs only in the phrase rear to life. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To bring something back to life, used only in the saying 'rear to life.'

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Of food such as meat or eggs, cooked only lightly so that it stays underdone; rare.
- (verb) To sodomize someone; to perform anal sex on a person.
- (adverb) Early; at an early hour or soon.

## Origin

**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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/rear (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).