bruin

noun

bru·​in ˈbrü-ən 

plural bruins

: bear sense 1

Bears are the most popular animals in a number of our national parks. In the Smokies, where the population of bruins runs into the hundreds, opportunities to observe these large wild animals are plentiful during the summer.

—Edward Spargo and Glenn R. Williston

A disturbing and all-too-common sign of a feeding bear is an overturned garbage can … its contents scattered about as the bruin searched for something edible in the trash.

—Charles Fergus

Examples of bruin in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Plate-sized globs of bear scat lay everywhere, and the bruins’ beds cratered the forest floor. —Ben Goldfarb, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Oct. 2024

Garbage cans, pet food and hobby chickens are just too much temptation for bruins to resist. —Ben Long, The Denver Post, 13 Feb. 2024

The footage shows skiers nonchalantly turning back and forth across a groomed trail when a bruin is seen loping across the slope on the left-hand side. —Sage Marshall, Field & Stream, 14 Dec. 2023

In the fall, berry seeds, apple chunks, rosehips, fur and hair, and the bones and scales of fish are visible in scat piles, producing telltale clues to a local bruin’s foraging habits. —Steven Hill, Field & Stream, 29 Nov. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Middle Dutch, name of the bear in Reynard the Fox

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

bruin

noun

bru·​in ˈbrü-ən 

: bear entry 1 sense 1

Etymology

from Bruin, name of a bear in literature, from early Dutch bruin "brown"