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Glite Dictionary
🚢 To approach forcefully ⬇️ To press hard
to bear down on

to bear down on

3 5.5
To press hard on something with great force
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : presionar
  • The coach encouraged the players to bear down on their responsibilities during the crucial match.
  • the sun bore down on
  • the weight bearing down on
  • fire bearing down on

But I think if you bore down, if if we have a Commission, we actually bore down on Epstein, we will come across the cesspool.

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Examples

  • The heavy rain and winds bear down on the small town, causing significant damage to homes.

  • Last week the Education Secretary told the House that he understood the cost pressures facing schools and it would work with them to bear down on those costs.

  • That work continues and in Leicester we instituted a local lockdown in order to bear down on stubborn rates of infection.

  • His elbows bore down on the table; his knuckles turned white, gripping her, and she grimaced but didn't pull away.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • As the deadline approached, the unexpected workload began to bear down on the entire team.

Synonyms

to drag down
vsto bear down on
29 4.0

To pull something down by weight or force

means applying heavy pressure instead of pulling to move something down
to press down
vsto bear down on
18 2.5

To push something down with force to make it flat or close it

focuses more on heavy pressure that causes strain rather than flattening
to press down on
vsto bear down on
8 2.2

Push something down using your hand or weight

applies force more generally not only downward or by weight
to weigh down
vsto bear down on
4 3.6

Make something heavier so it bends or sinks

describes pressure that causes strain rather than just added weight
to bear down
vsto bear down on
2 7.0

Press hard on something or make it feel heavy

is the same but stresses applying this force onto something

How Hard

to crush
401 1.6
to bear down on
3 5.5
to flatten
23 2.6
to touch
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

bear down on infinitive
bearing down on present participle
bears down on third person singular
bore down on past
bore down on past participle

Morphology

bear + down + on

The components 'bear' (to carry/press), 'down' (toward a lower position) and 'on' (onto) together evoke pressing or applying weight, so the meaning is partly derivable from the parts as a metaphorical downward/forward pressure. However, the specific sense 'to exert strong force or pressure on someone/something' is a figurative extension and may not be fully predictable to an average B1 learner without exposure, so it is not fully transparent.

Etymology

Bear down on comes from the image of weight pushing down. The verb bear means 'to carry' and down shows the force going down, so it means 'to press heavily' on something.