"Bring to bear"

Posted by Victoria S Dennis on August 18, 2005

In Reply to: "Bring to bear" posted by ESC on August 17, 2005

: : "Bring to bear"
: : or is it bare?

: Bear. I believe it is in this sense:

: Bear -- 4 a : to exert influence or force (Merriam-Webster).

- and very often the "influence or force" is gunnery. When a battleship swings round to allow its guns to fire at another, it is said to be "bringing its guns to bear" on the enemy.