black bear


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.

Origin of black bear

First recorded in 1735–45

Example sentences from the Web for black bear

British Dictionary definitions for black bear

black bear

noun

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