black bear

American

noun

a medium-sized North American bear, Ursus (Euarctos ) americanus, relatively common in uninhabited mountainous areas, ranging from light brown to black with a straight brown muzzle: northern populations may be gray to near-white.

black bear British

noun

a bear, Euarctos (or Ursus ) americanus , inhabiting forests of North America. It is smaller and less ferocious than the brown bear
a bear, Selenarctos thibetanus , of central and E Asia, whose coat is black with a pale V-shaped mark on the chest

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of black bear

First recorded in 1735–45

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But a well-known black bear in the area, known as Rose, had other plans for the home, having already settled into her new den in the home’s crawl space.

From Los Angeles Times

Following confirmation of a bear sighting, Pasadena Humane notified the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which has jurisdiction over the state’s 60,000 black bears.

From Los Angeles Times

California is home to an estimated 60,000 black bears, the highest population estimate in the contiguous United States.

From Los Angeles Times

A wild black bear took a jaunt around a Northern California zoo and was spotted visiting its bear neighbors.

From Los Angeles Times

Japanese black bears, meanwhile, are common across large parts of the country.

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023