1. (Combining form) Producing or yielding
2. (Of a structural member) Withstanding a weight or strain.

1. Dignified manner or conduct; SYN. comportment, presence, mien.
2. Device placed between moving parts to allow them to move easily, with a minimum of friction.
3. Relevant relation or interconnection:
4. The direction or path along which something moves or along which it lies; SYN. heading, aim.

Device used in a machine to allow free movement between two parts, typically the rotation of a shaft in a housing. Ball bearings consist of two rings, one fixed to a housing, one to the rotating shaft. Between them is a set, or race, of steel balls. They are widely used to support shafts, as in the spindle in the hub of a bicycle wheel.
The sleeve, or journal bearing, is the simplest bearing. It is a hollow cylinder, split into two halves. It is used for the big-end and main bearings on an automobile crankshaft.
In some machinery the balls of ball bearings are replaced by cylindrical rollers or thinner, needle bearings.
In precision equipment such as watches and aircraft instruments, bearings may be made from material such as ruby and are known as jewel bearings.
For some applications bearings made from nylon and other plastics are used. They need no lubrication because their surfaces are naturally waxy.

The direction of a fixed point, or the path of a moving object, from a point of observation on the Earth's surface, expressed as an angle from the north. Bearings are taken by compass and are measured in degrees (ş), given as three-digit numbers increasing clockwise. For instance, north is 000ş, northeast is 045ş, south is 180ş, and southwest is 225ş.
True north differs slightly from magnetic north (the direction in which a compass needle points), hence NE may be denoted as 045M or 045T, depending on whether the reference line is magnetic (M) or true (T) north. True north also differs slightly from grid north since it is impossible to show a spherical Earth on a flat map.