brown bear

noun

: any of several chiefly brown bears that are usually considered a single species (Ursus arctos), that formerly inhabited western North America from Alaska to northern Mexico and much of Europe and Asia but are now much restricted in range, and that include the grizzly bear and Kodiak bear

Illustration of brown bear

Examples of brown bear in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Alaska has black bears, brown bears — which include grizzlies — and polar bears. —Phil Helsel, NBC News, 31 Oct. 2024

This image made from video provided by Donna Gail Shaw shows a view from a trail camera of a brown bear and cub on July 18, 2024, in Anchorage, Alaska. —CBS News, 12 Oct. 2024

Fat Bear Week is an online, bracket-style tournament that celebrates the brown bears of Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska. —Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Oct. 2024

Users vote daily to decide which brown bears at Alaska’s Katmai National Park — who are busy feasting on salmon to pack on winter pounds this time of year — deserve the top spot. —Bailey Richards, People.com, 9 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1757, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

brown bear

noun

: any of several bears that are mostly brown in color, are usually lumped together in a single species including the grizzly bear, and at one time inhabited much of North America from Alaska to northern Mexico as well as Europe and Asia