bearer

/ˈbɛrər/

/ˈbɛrə/

Other forms: bearers

A bearer is a person who carries or delivers something. If you hate to be the bearer of bad news, don't become a traffic cop.

If you're the flag bearer in a parade, it means you march at the front gripping a flag, and a coffin bearer holds one end of the coffin at a funeral. You'll often find the word in the phrase "bearer of bad news" or "bearer of bad tidings." In the mid-17th century, the word bearer was primarily used to mean "person who carried dead bodies to the grave."

Definitions of bearer

1. noun

   a messenger who bears or presents
   “a bearer of good tidings”

   type of:

   courier, messenger

   a person who carries a message
2. noun

   someone whose employment involves carrying something
   synonyms: carrier, toter

   type of:

   traveler, traveller

   a person who changes location
3. noun

   one of the mourners carrying the coffin at a funeral
   synonyms: pallbearer

   type of:

   griever, lamenter, mourner, sorrower

   a person who is feeling grief (as grieving over someone who has died)
4. noun

   the person who is in possession of a check or note or bond or document of title that is endorsed to him or to whoever holds it
   “the bond was marked `payable to bearer'”

   synonyms: holder

   type of:

   capitalist

   a person who invests capital in a business (especially a large business)