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Glite Dictionary
to bear with

to bear with

44 4.8
To be patient with someone while they fix something
  • phrasal verb
  • /bɛr wɪð/
translation icon : tener paciencia con
  • Please bear with me while I find the information you need.

OK, so bear with me if that's the case.

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Examples

  • It's a bit complicated, so it will take some time, so I hope you will bear with me, hear what I have to say.

    Deep Impact (1998)

  • If you will bear with me, I shall try.

    Jungle Woman (1944)

  • So just bear with me on this one please.

  • I left before Google told me, so bear with me, man.

  • But I still have all of this to go, so bear with me.

  • So please bear with me.

    Voodoo Academy (2000)

  • These are a little bit lengthy, just bear with me while I write these out.

  • You'll have to bear with me.

    The Brutalist (2024)

  • Ladies and gentlemen, if you'll please bear with us.

    The Running Man (1987)

  • I am a newbie at this, so bear with me if I am being obtuse.

    Blog text (13)

Synonyms

to put up with
vsto bear with
288 4.3

To accept something unpleasant without complaining

is more about being patient while waiting for a problem to be fixed
to hold still for
vsto bear with
  • Informal
7.5

Allow something unpleasant without complaining

is about patience while waiting for a resolution rather than mere endurance

How Patient

to endure
304 3.5
to bear with
44 4.8
to hold out
139 3.7
to tolerate
290 3.5

Surface Forms

bear with infinitive
bearing with present participle
bears with third person singular
bore with past
borne with past participle

Morphology

bear + with

The verb 'bear' already means 'to tolerate' and the preposition 'with' marks the target/recipient, so 'bear with' directly composes to 'tolerate/be patient with someone'. This is a regular compositional phrasal verb pattern found across languages, so an average B1 learner who knows the constituents should be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

The phrasal verb bear with comes from an older use of bear meaning 'to carry' or 'accept' and with meaning 'together with'. So when someone asks you to bear with them, they are asking you to 'carry' a small problem with them for a short time, in other words, be patient.