DCHP-1 Online
gray bear Obs. 
1a a large and, often, ferocious bear, Ursus horribilis, nowadays largely confined to the northern Rockies.
See also: grizzly bear
- 1819 (1922) The grey bear differs but little in shape, from those of a smaller kind and of a different colour . . . a beautiful lively silver grey.
- 1936 Dr. Richardson, naturalist to the Franklin Expedition of 1830, tells of a man at Edmonton being scalped by a Grey Bear.
1b the hide of this animal.
- 1855 (1924) The freemen traded a few rats and a grey bear
2 a color phase of the black bear.
See also: black bear
- 1821 (1823) Individuals vary in colour from black to different shades of brown, and are known to the traders under the different names of Black, Brown, Cinnamon, and Grey Bears.
- 1819 (1922) The grey bear differs but little in shape, from those of a smaller kind and of a different colour . . . a beautiful lively silver grey.