phrasal verb · academic

bring to bear

UK/brɪŋ tə beə/US/brɪŋ tə ber/BRING·to·BEAR

task2speaking

to apply influence, pressure, knowledge, or resources in order to affect a situation

Examples

The government brought considerable pressure to bear on the company.

The researchers brought a range of expertise to bear on the problem.

International sanctions were brought to bear to force compliance.

Band 8 sentence

Policymakers must bring every available lever to bear if they hope to curb emissions within a decade.

Collocations

  • bring pressure to bear
  • bring expertise/knowledge to bear

Word family

bring to bear verbbrings to bear verbbrought to bear verb (past)bringing to bear verb

Common mistakes

use pressure onbring pressure to bear on

bring bear onbring to bear

Say it for a higher band

5use6apply7+bring to bear

Synonyms

apply

Easily confused

apply

They applied scientific methods to the problem.

Related words

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In bring …

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