bare / be(ə)r/ • adj. 1. (of a person or part of the body) not clothed or covered: he was bare from the waist up she padded in bare feet toward the door. ∎  without the appropriate, usual, or natural covering: a clump of bare aspen trees bare floorboards. ∎  without the appropriate or usual contents: a bare cell with just a mattress. ∎  unconcealed; without disguise: an ordeal that would lay bare a troubled family background.2. without addition; basic and simple: he outlined the bare essentials of the story a strange, bare production of Twelfth Night. ∎  only just sufficient: a bare majority. ∎  surprisingly small in number or amount: all you need to get started with this program is a bare 10K bytes of memory.• v. [tr.] uncover (a part of the body or other thing) and expose it to view: he bared his chest to show his scar.PHRASES: the bare bones the basic facts about something, without any detail: the bare bones of the plot.bare one's soul reveal one's innermost secrets and feelings to someone.bare one's teeth show one's teeth, typically when angry.with one's bare hands without using tools or weapons.DERIVATIVES: bare·ness n.

bare OE. bær (G. bar, Du. baar) :- Gmc. *bazaz.