polar bear

American

noun

a large white bear, Ursus maritimus, of the Arctic regions.

polar bear British

noun

a white carnivorous bear, Thalarctos maritimus, of coastal regions of the North Pole

"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 polar bear

First recorded in 1775–85

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.

And if, during the first few minutes of your chat, you find yourself unable to stop staring, unable to overlook the fact that Duane is a polar bear, do not worry.

From Literature

Rana likes to follow polar bear tracks and listen to her mother’s stories: “Stories about the old ice, the long long polar night, the Great Bear and how snow foxes make light with their tails.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Venturing outside the town means carrying a mandatory rifle in case of encounters with polar bears.

From Barron's

Newsom describes fishing on the Rogue River and riding in a helicopter while studying polar bears on the shores of the Hudson Bay in Canada.

From Los Angeles Times

"Indigenous Arctic communities depend on the hunting of species like polar bears, seals, and walruses, for which sea ice provides essential habitat," said author Dimitri Kondrashov.

From Science Daily

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