bearing

1. (mechanical engineering) A mechanical device that supports another part or reduces friction.

2. (navigation, nautical) The horizontal angle between the direction of an object and another object, or between it and that of true north; a heading or direction.Examples: "This volume would have been at least twice as large, if I had not made bold to strike out innumerable passages relating to the winds and tides, as well as to the variations and bearings in the several voyages, together with the minute descriptions of the management of the ship in storms, in the style of sailors; likewise the account of longitudes and latitudes; [...]"

3. (in the plural, especially in phrases such as 'get one's bearings') One's understanding of one's orientation or relative position, literally or figuratively.Examples: "Do we go left here or straight on? Hold on, let me just get my bearings."; "I started a new job last week, and I still haven't quite found my bearings."especiallyin-plural

4. (architecture) That part of any member of a building which rests upon its supports.Examples: "A lintel or beam may have four inches of bearing upon the wall."

5. (architecture) The portion of a support on which anything rests.

6. (architecture, proscribed) The unsupported span.Examples: "The beam has twenty feet of bearing between its supports."proscribed