idiom · neutral
bear the brunt
UK/beə ðə brʌnt/US/ber ðə brʌnt/bear·the·BRUNT
speakingtask2
to receive the main force of something unpleasant or damaging
Examples
“Small towns bore the brunt of the factory closures.”
“Children often bore the brunt of their parents' arguments.”
“The coastal region bore the brunt of the storm.”
Band 8 sentence
“Low-income communities bore the brunt of the policy change, experiencing the sharpest fall in public services.”
Collocations
- bear the brunt of
- bear the brunt for
Word family
bore the brunt verb phrase (past)bearing the brunt verb phrase (continuous)
Common mistakes
bear the brunt of on→bear the brunt of
bearn the brunt→bear the brunt
Say it for a higher band
5suffer→6take the hit→7+bear the brunt
Synonyms
suffer the most
take the hit
Easily confused
shoulder the burden
“When funding was cut, small clinics shouldered the burden of caring for more patients.”
Related words
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