Bearing

Bearing - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

BEARING, ppr. Supporting; carrying; producing.

BEARING, n. Gesture; mien; behavior.

I know him by his bearing [Unusual.]

1. The situation of an object, with respect of another object, by which it is supposed to have a connection with it or influence upon it, or to be influenced by it.

But of this frame,the bearings and the ties.

2. In architecture, the space between the two fixed extremes of a piece of timber, or between one extreme and a supporter.

3. In navigation, the situation of a distant object, with regard to a ship's position, as on the bow, on the lee quarter, _c. Also, an arch of the horizon intercepted between the nearest meridian and any distant object, either discovered by the eye and referred to a point on the compass, or resulting from sinical proportion.

4. In heraldry, bearings are the coats of arms or figures of armories, by which the nobility and gentry are distinguished from common persons.