1. Exert a force or cause a strain upon
   "This tax bears down on the lower middle class"
    
2. Exert a force with a heavy weight
   "The snow bore down on the roof";
   - drag down, bear down on, press down on, weigh down
    
3. Pay special attention to
   "The lectures bore down on the political background"
    
4. Contract the abdominal muscles during childbirth to ease delivery
   "The midwife instructed the mother to bear down during contractions"
    
5. (baseball) exert full strength
   "The pitcher bore down"
    
6. To make a rush at or sudden attack upon, as in battle
   "The cavalry bore down on the enemy lines";
   - charge

Derived forms: bearing down, borne down, bore down, bears down

Type of: accent, accentuate, burden, charge, compact, compress, constrict, contract, emphasise [Brit], emphasize, fight, lumber [Brit, informal], press, punctuate, rush, saddle, squeeze, stress, struggle