Meanings
present singular third person upbears · participle present upbearing · past upbore · participle past upborne · archaic participle past poetic upbore
- datedtransitiveTo hold up; raise aloft; hold or sustain high
One short sigh of breath, upborne / Even to the seat of God.
1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC2 more examples
A monstrous wave up-bore the chief, and dashed him on the craggy shore.
1725–1726, Homer, “Book 5”, in [William Broome, Elijah Fenton, Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC[S]o / Do these upbear the little world below / Of Education,—Patience, Love, and Hope.
1830, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “[Sibylline Leaves.] Love, Hope, and Patience in Education.”, in The Poetical and Dramatic Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge […], volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., published 1880, →OCLC, page 334
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Middle Englishupberen
- Englishupbear
From Middle English upberen, equivalent to up- + bear.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
upbear. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/upbear
“upbear.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/upbear. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “upbear,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/upbear.
Source: upbear on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.