heraldry, a term used to express a coat of arms, or the figures of armories by which the nobility and gentry are distinguished from the vulgar and from one another. See Heraldry.

Bearings-Claws, among cock-fighters, denote the foremost toes, on which the bird goes; and if they be hurt or gravelled, he cannot fight.

Bearing of a stag, is used in respect of the state of his head, or the croches which he bears on his horns. If you be asked what a stag bears, you are only to reckon the croches, and never to express an odd number; as, if he have four croches on his near horn and five on his far, you must say he bears ten; a false right on his near horn: if but four on the near horn and six on the far horn, you must say he bears twelve; a double false right on the near horn.