From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbear down phrasal verb1 bear down on somebody/somethingMOVE/CHANGE POSITION a) to move quickly towards a person or place in a threatening way a storm bearing down on the island b) to behave in a threatening or controlling way towards a person or group Federal regulators have been bearing down on campaign contributors.2 PRESSto use all your strength and effort to push or press down on something → bear→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
bear down on somebody/something• Yussuf bore down on her in a fury.• A stillness which seemed to bear down on her like a physical presence.• These thoughts bear down on me as I sit here on this third night of writing.• His eyes bore down on me out of a somewhat hawklike face, and I immediately became flustered.• The Pequod bears down on the area and comes between the whale and the floundering seamen.• For those who find Christmas suddenly bearing down on them, the build-up to the day is one blur of activity.• Five or six men, horsed, masked and well-armed, burst from a clump of trees and bore down on them.• Meanwhile, the New Zealand Interislander Ferry is bearing down on us like a 350-foot long, 40-foot tall aquatic freight train. 