Arctic bear

English

Noun

Arctic bear (plural Arctic bears)

1. A polar bear.
   • 1838, [Edgar Allan Poe], chapter XVII, in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 146:

     Upon coming up with the floe, we perceived that it was in possession of a gigantic creature of the race of the Arctic bear, but far exceeding in size the largest of these animals.

   • 2009, Elisha Kent Kane, Adrift in the Arctic Ice Pack, →ISBN, page 64:

     I once before compared the posterior aspect of the Arctic bear to an elephant's. All my mess-mates used the same comparison. The extreme roundness of his back and haunches, with the columnar character of the legs, and the round expansion of the feet, give you the impression of a small elephant.

   • 2012, Michael MacCracken, Sudden and Disruptive Climate Change, →ISBN:

     Further, the terrestrial niche for an Arctic bear is already occupied and there are indications that barren-ground grizzlies are already advancing northward.

2. Any bear that lives in the Arctic.