From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcan’t bear somethingcan’t bear somethingspoken a) SUFFERto be so upset about something that you feel unable to accept it or let it happen SYN can’t stand Please don’t leave me. I couldn’t bear it.can’t bear the thought of (doing) something I just can’t bear the thought of having to start all over.can’t bear to do something I can’t bear to see her cry.can’t bear doing something I couldn’t bear not seeing him again. b) DON'T LIKEto dislike something or someone very much, often so that they make you feel annoyed or impatient SYN can’t stand Oh, I really can’t bear him.can’t bear somebody doing something He can’t bear people smoking while he’s eating.can’t bear doing something I can’t bear being cold. → bear
Examples from the Corpus
can’t bear to do something• She was the kind of person who just couldn't bear to throw anything away. 