bearward

English

Alternative forms

• bear-ward
• berrord (archaic)

Etymology

From bear +‎ ward.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɛəɹ ˌwɔɹd/

Noun

bearward (plural bearwards)

1. A keeper of bears.
   • 1887, Charles James Ribton-Turner, A History of Vagrants and Vagrancy, and Beggars and Begging:

     The former prohibition against bearwards is omitted iii this Act, probably because it had proved futile for the purpose intended, as a writer in " Notes and Queries," speaking of this period, says : — " I was never a witness of a bear-bait, but I well remember a poor brute who was kept alive for this sole purpose, at F----, in Lancashire.

   • 2007, Lawrence M. Clopper, Elizabeth Baldwin, David Mills, Cheshire Including Chester, page lxxv:

     Congleton had a reputation for bearbaiting and went to some lengths to protect it, sending messengers to Knutsford and Bunbury to ensure that the bearwards got to the Congleton bearbait (see pp 639, 653).

Translations

a keeper of bears

• Russian: вожа́к медве́дя m (vožák medvédja)
• Welsh: canlynwr arth m

Anagrams

• drabware