I. bare 1 /beə $ ber/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: bær ]
1 . WITHOUT CLOTHES not covered by clothes SYN naked :
a ragged child with bare feet
She felt the warm sun on her bare arms.
bare-headed/bare-chested/bare-legged etc
2 . LAND/TREES not covered by trees or grass, or not having any leaves:
The trees soon gave way to bare rock.
3 . NOT COVERED/EMPTY empty, not covered by anything, or not having any decorations:
She looked round her tiny bare room.
a bare wood staircase
4 . the bare facts a statement that tells someone only what they need to know, with no additional details:
The newspaper had simply published the bare facts.
5 . SMALLEST AMOUNT NECESSARY [only before noun] the very least amount of something that you need to do something:
He got 40% – a bare pass.
The room had the bare minimum (=the smallest amount possible) of furniture.
the bare essentials/necessities
Her bag was light, packed with only the bare essentials.
If you ask her about herself, she gives only the barest (=the smallest amount possible) of details.
6 . the bare bones the most important parts or facts of something without any detail:
We have outlined only the bare bones of the method.
7 . lay something bare
a) to uncover something that was previously hidden:
When the river is low, vast stretches of sand are laid bare.
b) to make known something that was secret:
historical writing which seeks to lay bare the true nature of an event
8 . with your bare hands without using a weapon or a tool:
He had killed a man with his bare hands.
9 . bare infinitive technical the basic form of a verb, for example ‘go’ or ‘eat’
—bareness noun [uncountable]
II. bare 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . to remove something that was covering or hiding something:
The dog bared its teeth.
He bared his back to the hot sun.
2 . bare your soul to reveal your most secret feelings
III. bare 3 /beə $ ber/ BrE AmE adverb British English spoken informal
very, or a lot of – used by young people:
Check out this new game – it’s bare hard.
His dad’s got bare money.