rear

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɹɪ(ə)ɹ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹɪə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)

From Middle English reren (“to raise”), from Old English rǣran (“to raise, set upright, promote, exalt, begin, create, give rise to, excite, rouse, arouse, stir up”), from Proto-West Germanic *raiʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *raizijaną, *raisijaną (“to cause to rise, raise”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- (“to lift oneself, rise”).

Cognate with Scots rere (“to construct, build, rear”), Icelandic reisa (“to raise”), Gothic 𐍂𐌰𐌹𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (raisjan, “to cause to rise, lift up, establish”), German reisen (“to travel”, literally “to rear up and depart”); and a doublet of raise. More at rise.

Related to rise and raise, which is used for several of its now archaic or obsolete senses and for some of its senses that are currently more common in other dialects of English.

• reer, rere, rare (all obsolete)

rear (third-person singular simple present rears, present participle rearing, simple past and past participle reared)

A rearing horse (3).

1. (transitive) To bring up to maturity, as offspring; to educate; to instruct; to foster.
   • 1694, Thomas Southerne, Isabella: Or The Fatal Marriage:

     He wants a father to protect his youth, and rear him up to virtue.

2. (transitive, said of people towards animals) To breed and raise.

   The family has been rearing cattle for 200 years.

3. (intransitive) To rise up on the hind legs

   The horse was shocked, and thus reared.

4. (intransitive, usually with "up") To get angry.
5. (intransitive) To rise high above, tower above.
6. (transitive, literary) To raise physically or metaphorically; to lift up; to cause to rise, to elevate.

   Poverty reared its ugly head. (appeared, started, began to have an effect)

   The monster slowly reared its head.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     In adoration at his feet I fell Submiss; he reared me.

   • 1835, Lord Lytton, Rienzi, the Last of the Roman Tribunes:

     Mine [shall be] the first hand to rear her banner.

7. (transitive, rare) To construct by building; to set up

   to rear defenses or houses

   to rear one government on the ruins of another.

   • 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Prologue”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:

     One reared a font of stone.

8. (transitive, rare) To raise spiritually; to lift up; to elevate morally.
   • 1700, Isaac Barrow, Of Industry...:

     It reareth our hearts from vain thoughts.

9. (transitive, obsolete) To lift and take up.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 19:

     And hauing her from Trompart lightly reard, / Vpon his Courser set the louely lode,

10. (transitive, obsolete) To rouse; to strip up.
    • 1684, John Dryden, The Second Epode of Horace:

      And seeks the tusky boar to rear.

• It is standard US English to raise children, and this usage has become common in all kinds of English since the 1700s. Until fairly recently, however, US teachers taught the traditional rule that one should raise crops and animals, but rear children, despite the fact that this contradicted general usage. It is therefore not surprising that some people still prefer to rear children and that this is considered correct but formal in US English. It is widespread in UK English and not considered formal.

• It is generally considered incorrect to rear crops or (adult) animals in US English, but this expression is common in UK English.

• (rise up on the hind legs): prance

From Middle English rere, from Anglo-Norman rere, ultimately from Latin retro. Compare arrear. Doublet of retro.

rear (not comparable)

1. Being behind, or in the hindmost part; hindmost

   the rear rank of a company

   sit in the rear seats of a car

• front

rear (not comparable)

1. (British, dialect) early; soon
   • 1714, John Gay, The Shepherd's Week:

     Then why does Cuddy leave his cot so rear!

rear (plural rears)

1. The back or hindmost part; that which is behind, or last in order.

   Antonym: front

   • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 91:

     Nipt with the lagging rear of winters froſt.

2. (military) Specifically, the part of an army or fleet which comes last, or is stationed behind the rest.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, line 78:

     When the fierce Foe hung on our brok'n Rear

3. (anatomy) The buttocks or bottom.

• (buttocks): rear end

rear (third-person singular simple present rears, present participle rearing, simple past and past participle reared)

1. To place in the rear; to secure the rear of.
2. (transitive, vulgar, British) To sodomize (perform anal sex)

From Middle English reren, from Old English hrēran (“to move, shake, agitate”), from Proto-Germanic *hrōzijaną (“to stir”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱroHs- (“to mix, stir, cook”). Cognate with Dutch roeren (“to stir, shake, whip”), German rühren (“to stir, beat, move”), Swedish röra (“to touch, move, stir”), Icelandic hræra (“to stir”).

• reer, rere (all obsolete)

rear (third-person singular simple present rears, present participle rearing, simple past and past participle reared)

1. (transitive) To move; stir.
2. (transitive, of geese) To carve.

   Rear that goose!

3. (regional, obsolete) To revive, bring to life, quicken. (only in the phrase, to rear to life)

   He healeth the blind and he reareth to life the dead.

   (Speculum Sacerdotale c. 15th century)

• In the sense "bring to life", the more common variant of to rear to life is to raise to life. “I pray you, Declan, servant of God, that in the name of Christ you would raise to life for me the seven hostages whom I held in bondage from the chieftains of Munster." (Life of Saint Declan of Ardmore By Saint Declan of Ardmore, Aeterna Press, 2015.)

• reremouse
• uproar

• The Middle English Dictionary

From Middle English rere, from Old English hrēr, hrēre (“not thoroughly cooked, underdone, lightly boiled”), from hrēran (“to move, shake, agitate”), from Proto-Germanic *hrōzijaną (“to stir”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱroHs- (“to mix, stir, cook”). Related to Old English hrōr (“stirring, busy, active, strong, brave”), Dutch roeren (“to stir, shake, whip”), German rühren (“to stir, beat, move”), Swedish röra (“to touch, move, stir”), Icelandic hræra (“to stir”).

• reer, rere
• rare (US)

rear (comparative rearer or more rear, superlative rearest or most rear)

1. (now chiefly dialectal) (of eggs) Underdone; nearly raw.
2. (chiefly US) (of meats) Rare.
   • 2017, Dr. Ardeshir Irani, Short Tales of the Old Wild West:

     Fred ordered a rear steak along with a glass of beer as he took a seat at an empty table

• rear-boiled
• rear-roasted

• arré, rare

rear

1. first-person singular present active subjunctive of reor

rear

1. present indicative of rea

• rare