LITTLE BEAR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Little Bear mean? 

• LITTLE BEAR (noun)
  The noun LITTLE BEAR has 1 sense:

1. a constellation outside the zodiac that rotates around the North Star

  Familiarity information: LITTLE BEAR used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LITTLE BEAR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A constellation outside the zodiac that rotates around the North Star

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

Little Bear; Ursa Minor

Instance hypernyms:

constellation (a configuration of stars as seen from the earth)

Meronyms (parts of "Little Bear"):

Dipper; Little Dipper (a cluster of seven stars in Ursa Minor; at the end of the dipper's handle is Polaris)

Meronyms (members of "Little Bear"):

North Star; polar star; Polaris; pole star; polestar (the brightest star in Ursa Minor; at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper; the northern axis of the earth points toward it)

 Context examples 

He took care, however, that they should be allowed to go to the shops they came out expressly to visit; and it did not delay them long, for Fanny could so little bear to excite impatience, or be waited for, that before the gentlemen, as they stood at the door, could do more than begin upon the last naval regulations, or settle the number of three-deckers now in commission, their companions were ready to proceed.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)