The inner and outer ring raceways are segments of cones and the rollers are tapered so that the conical surfaces of the raceways, and the roller axes, if projected, would all meet at a common point on the main axis of the bearing. This geometry makes the motion of the cones remain coaxial, with no sliding motion between the raceways and the OD of the rollers.

This conical geometry creates a linear contact patch which permits greater loads to be carried than with spherical (ball) bearings, which have point contact. The geometry means that the tangential speeds of the surfaces of each of the rollers are the same as their raceways along the whole length of the contact patch and no differential scrubbing occurs.

The rollers are stabilized and restrained by a flange on the inner ring, against which their large end slides, which stops the rollers from popping out due to the "pumpkin seed effect" of their conical shape.

The larger the half angles of these cones the larger the axial force that the bearing can sustain.

Tapered roller bearings are separable into a cone assembly and a cup. The non-separable cone assembly consists of the inner ring, the rollers, and a cage that retains & evenly spaces the rollers. The cup is simply the outer ring. Internal clearance is established during mounting by the axial position of the cone relative to the cup, although preloaded installations without clearance are common.

Metric tapered roller bearings follow the designation system defined by ISO 355.