Minibear

noun, slang

noun, slang ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A critter, or any animal that is smaller than a bear, that gets into a camper's food, pack, or tent. US, slang

    "Almost any place worth camping in comes equipped with a full complement of night-foraging critters. Most are small, like chipmunks, but they are still worthy of the nickname "minibears.""

Synonyms

All synonyms
microbear

Example

More examples

"Almost any place worth camping in comes equipped with a full complement of night-foraging critters. Most are small, like chipmunks, but they are still worthy of the nickname "minibears.""

Etymology

From mini- + bear. Originated as ranger slang at Philmont Scout Ranch, a large scouting camp in New Mexico.

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