bare

Etymology 1

From Middle English bare, bar, from Old English bær (“bare, naked, open”), from Proto-West Germanic *baʀ, from Proto-Germanic *bazaz (“bare, naked”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰosós, from *bʰos- (“bare, barefoot”). Cognate with Scots bare, bair (“bare”), Saterland Frisian bar (“bare”), West Frisian baar (“bare”), Dutch baar (“bare”), German bar (“bare”), Swedish bar (“bare”), Icelandic ber (“bare”), Lithuanian basas (“barefoot, bare”), Polish bosy (“barefoot”).

adj

1. Minimal; that is or are just sufficient.
   a bare majority
2. Naked, uncovered.
   "I refuse to show myself out of doors in my bare feet," the Centipede said. "I have to get my boots on again first." 1961, Roald Dahl, James and the Giant Peach, Knopf, page 46
3. Having no supplies.
   a room bare of furniture
   The cupboard was bare.
   Localities across New Jersey imposed curfews to prevent looting. In Monmouth, Ocean and other counties, people waited for hours for gasoline at the few stations that had electricity. Supermarket shelves were stripped bare. October 31 2012, David M. Halbfinger, New York Times, retrieved 2012-10-31
4. Having no decoration.
   The walls of this room are bare — why not hang some paintings on them?
5. Having had what usually covers (something) removed.
   The trees were left bare after the swarm of locusts devoured all the leaves.
6. (MLE, MTE, Yorkshire, slang, not comparable) A lot or lots of.
   It's bare money to get in the club each time, man.
   It's taking bare time.
   The phone would answer, we'd go round the corner, pass something to someone, go back and we'd have bare dough, we'd have bare money in our pocket. 2005-07-13, Ryan, quotee, “‘We like the easy money. We like the lifestyle’”, in The Guardian
   You shagged bare lads, you're a little sket / Have you heard your bars? They're fucking pept 2016-12-03, Millie B (lyrics and music), “Soph Aspin Send”, performed by Millie B
   Oh, come on. Help a brother out. People see you coppin', might inspire them. Look, I know you ain't payin' bills right now. Man must have bare peas saved up. 2023, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia, directed by Raine Allen-Miller, Rye Lane, spoken by Nathan (Simon Manyonda)
7. With head uncovered; bareheaded.
8. Without anything to cover up or conceal one's thoughts or actions; open to view; exposed.
9. (figurative) Mere; without embellishment.
   bare essentials; bare necessities
   Those who lent him money lent it on no security but his bare word. 1848, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, Chapter XII
10. Threadbare, very worn.
11. Not insured.
    Before the company was formed, the firm went bare for about three months in 1985, but it now has prior acts coverage for that time. 1 December 1987, ABA Journal, page 86
    That a firm chooses to go bare has no effect on whether it gets sued or not. 1994, David S. Haviland, The Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice, page 310

adv

1. (dialect) Barely.
   The fiend had bare departed when Ailie came over the threshold to find the auld carline glunching over the fire. 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
   He finally came back to himself and asked why the furor. "Why," Lucy said, "because this is Christmas Eve. We have bare enough time to get ready for the ball, after dinner, as it is." 2009, Allan Cole, Chris Bunch, The Wars of the Shannons
   “I've bare enough for these two, much less fill your belly.” 2011, Elizabeth Vaughan, Warprize
2. (MLE, slang) Very; significantly.
   That pissed me off bare.
   That's bare stupid.
3. (slang) Without a condom.
   While none of the participants had complete confidence in condoms, they continued to use them as a better alternative than “going in bare". 2000, Northeast African Studies - Volume 7, page 119
   It would be fine to have these women bare, without condoms. 2002, The Society of Malawi Journal - Volumes 55-58, page 70
   I like to go bare. I don't like wearing condoms, actually I hate 'em. 2010, M. L. Matthews, I Am Not the Father: Narratives of Men Falsely Accused of Paternity

noun

1. (‘the bare’) The surface, the (bare) skin.
   In sad good earnest, sir, you have toucht the very bare of naked truth … 1599, John Marston, Antonio and Mellida
   Vancha clasped the bare of my neck and squeezed amiably. 2002, Darren Shan, Hunters of the dusk: 7
2. Surface; body; substance.
3. (architecture) That part of a roofing slate, shingle, tile, or metal plate, which is exposed to the weather.

Etymology 2

From Middle English baren, from Old English barian, from Proto-Germanic *bazōną (“to bare, make bare”).

verb

1. (transitive, sometimes figurative) To uncover; to reveal.
   She bared her teeth at him.
   The tabloid newspaper promised to bare all.

Etymology 3

Inflected forms.

verb

1. (obsolete) simple past of bear