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bear in hand, to lead one to believe, to keep in expectation, to amuse with false pretences, Meas. for M., i. 4. 51. Hamlet, ii. 2. 67; B. Jonson, Volpone i. 1; ‘I beare in hande, I threp upon a man that he hath done a dede, or make hym byleve so’, Palsgrave. See EDD. (s.v. Barenhond). ME. ‘I bar him on honde he hadde enchanted me’ (Chaucer, C. T. D. 575).

bearing. ‘A standing [upright] bearyng bowe,’ Ascham, Toxophilus, p. 79. A bearing arrow seems to have meant an arrow true in its flight (Nares), though it merely meant stout, or strong; probably a bearing bow was a strong and trusty one, one to be relied upon to shoot straight and well. So also bearing dishes, i.e. solid, substantial dishes or viands; Massinger, New Way to pay, v. 1 (Greedy).

bearing-cloth, the cloth in which a child was carried to the font. Winter’s Tale, iii. 3. 119; Beaumont and Fl., Chances, iii. 3 (Landlady).

beast, an obsolete game at cards, resembling the modern ‘Nap’. Butler, Hudibras, iii. 1. 1007. See NED. (s.v. Beast, 8).