Meaning of bearleader | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Someone who handles and keeps bears, especially for use in public entertainments such as bearbaiting or dancing displays; a bearward.
   historical
2. Someone acting as a chaperone and tutor to a wealthy young man travelling abroad, especially in Europe.
   broadly, historical
3. A captor; also, a guard, a jailer.
   broadly, historical, humorous, obsolete, rare

Equivalents

Examples

“So!—you have really undertaken the delightful office of bear-leader—becauſe the brother of your Geraldine cannot take care of himſelf— […]”

“They pounced upon the stray nobility, and seized young lords travelling with their bear leaders.”

“[…] Nick, if you please, was pronounced delicate, and led a series of tutors a fine dance until his mother decided he was old enough for the Grand Tour and sent him off with a bear-leader like some young regency lordling.”

“In 1775 Lord Herbert [George Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke] toured Switzerland with his bearleader William Coxe (1747–1828).”

“My bear-leaders were considerably surprised with my firmness, but seemed to think it beneath them to contest with me the principles I delivered. […] They left me abruptly; having first ordered an old man, the father of the landlady, to stay in the room with me while they were absent.”

CEFR level