What does "bearleader" mean?

Someone who handles and keeps bears, especially for use in public entertainments such as bearbaiting or dancing displays; a bearward.

What is a synonym for "bearleader"?

Common synonyms include: bear warden, bearherd, bearward.

Pronounced //ˈbɛəˌliːdə//.

//ˈbɛəˌliːdə// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Someone who handles and keeps bears, especially for use in public entertainments such as bearbaiting or dancing displays; a bearward. historical
2
Someone acting as a chaperone and tutor to a wealthy young man travelling abroad, especially in Europe. broadly, historical
"So!—you have really undertaken the delightful office of bear-leader—becauſe the brother of your Geraldine cannot take care of himſelf— […]"
3
A captor; also, a guard, a jailer. broadly, historical, humorous, obsolete, rare
"My bear-leaders were considerably surprised with my firmness, but seemed to think it beneath them to contest with me the principles I delivered. […] They left me abruptly; having first ordered an old man, the father of the landlady, to stay in the room with me while they were absent."

"So!—you have really undertaken the delightful office of bear-leader—becauſe the brother of your Geraldine cannot take care of himſelf— […]"

From bear + leader.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.