Rearer

rear ¹  (rîr)

n.

1. A hind part.

2. The point or area farthest from the front: the rear of the hall.

3. The part of a military deployment usually farthest from the fighting front.

4. Informal The buttocks.

adj.

Of, at, or located in the rear.

---

[Middle English rere, rear of an army, short for rerewarde, rear guard; see rearward².]

---

rear ²  (rîr)

v. reared, rear·ing, rears

v.tr.

1. To care for (children or a child) during the early stages of life; bring up.

2. To lift upright; raise.

3. To build; erect.

4. To tend (growing plants or animals).

v.intr.

1. To rise on the hind legs, as a horse.

2. To rise high in the air; tower.

---

[Middle English reren, to raise, from Old English rran; see er-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

---

rearer n.