arctic bear

arctic bear (plural arctic bears)

1. (obsolete) A polar bear.
   • 1824, Time's Telescope for 1824 ; Or, A Complete Guide to the Almanack, page ci:

     Still nearer the pole, the arctic bear reigns the mighty tyrant of the frozen solitude.

   • 1826, The Percy anecdotes - Volume 10, page 123:

     In the front parlour, was an immense arctic bear, of a white colour, and a winged animal, much injured by time, but which appeared to have been an eagle.

   • 1832 -, The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia - Volume 10, page 103:

     The white bear, polar bear, or arctic bear, (Ursus maritimus, or Ursus arcticus), is a migrating animal.

   • 1860, A Familiar Forensic View of Man and Law, page 70:

     The species of man in the temperate zone are not, like arctic bears or bears of Borneo, confined to any province.

2. Used other than with a figurative or idiomatic meaning: see Arctic,‎ bear.
   • 2012, E. C. Pielou, A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic, →ISBN, page 257:

     Bears are the largest living carnivores, and the two largest species, polar bears and grizzly bears, are both inhabitants of the Arctic. [...] In open country, with nowhere to hide, attack is the obvious method of defense, especailly for animals with the speed and enormous strength of the two arctic bears.