VocabauraVOCABAURA

rear

verb · noun · adjective

Simple meaning

Stand up on the hind legs, of quadrupeds.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

rir
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɹɪɹ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. Stand up on the hind legs, of quadrupeds

  2. intransitive

    To rise up on the hind legs.

  3. transitive

    To bring up to maturity, as offspring; to educate; to instruct; to foster.

  4. intransitive

    To rise high above, tower above.

  5. transitivesaid of people towards animals

    To breed and raise.

  6. transitiveliterary

    To raise physically or metaphorically; to lift up; to cause to rise, to elevate.

noun

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

adjective

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

  2. chiefly usof meats

    Rare.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Stand up on the hind legs, of quadrupeds

Used this way, rear is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use rear

  • “His room was toward the rear of the hotel.”noun
  • “Infantrymen were in the rear.”noun

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “rear”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Stand / rise

rear admiral

Construct

rear door

Other combinations

rear endrear windowrear viewrear wheelrear guardrear wall

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • rearingnounInflected form

    The properties acquired as a consequence of the way you were treated as a child.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • rear of tubenounCompound term

    Opening in the rear of the barrel of a gun where bullets can be loaded.

  • rear windownounCompound term

    Car window that allows vision out of the back of the car.

  • rear admiralnounCompound term

    An admiral junior to a vice admiral.

  • rear backverbCompound term

    Rear backwards on its hind legs.

  • rear-endverbCompound term

    Collide with the rear end of.

  • rear lampnounCompound term

    Lamp (usually red) mounted at the rear of a motor vehicle.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • rearview mirrornounRelated term

    Car mirror that reflects the view out of the rear window.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: back or hindmost part

backsiderearwardtailtail end

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “rear” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.