bending
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bend 1
(bĕnd)v. bent (bĕnt), bend·ing, bends
v. tr.
1.
a. To cause to assume a curved or angular shape: bend a piece of iron into a horseshoe.
b. To bring (a bow, for example) into a state of tension by drawing on a string or line.
c. To force to assume a different direction or shape, according to one's own purpose: "Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events" (Robert F. Kennedy).
d. To misrepresent; distort: bend the truth.
e. To relax or make an exception to: bend a rule to allow more members into the club.
2. To cause to swerve from a straight line; deflect: Light is bent as it passes through water.
3. To render submissive; subdue: "[His] words so often bewitched crowds and bent them to his will" (W. Bruce Lincoln).
4. To apply (the mind) closely: "The weary naval officer goes to bed at night having bent his brain all day to a scheme of victory" (Jack Beatty).
5. Nautical To fasten: bend a mainsail onto the boom.
v. intr.
1.
a. To deviate from a straight line or position: The lane bends to the right at the bridge.
b. To assume a curved, crooked, or angular form or direction: The saplings bent in the wind.
2. To incline the body; stoop.
3. To make a concession; yield.
4. To apply oneself closely; concentrate: She bent to her task.
n.
Idioms: 1.
a. The act or fact of bending.
b. The state of being bent.
2. Something bent: a bend in the road.
3. Nautical
a. A knot that joins a rope to a rope or another object.
b. bends The thick planks in a ship's side; wales.
4. bends (used with a sing. or pl. verb) Decompression sickness. Used with the.
around the bend Slang
Mentally deranged; crazy.
bend (one's) elbow Slang
To drink alcoholic beverages.
bend out of shape Slang
To annoy or anger.
bend (or lean) over backward
To make an effort greater than is required.
bend (someone's) ear Slang
To talk to at length, usually excessively.
[Middle English benden, from Old English bendan; see bhendh- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
bend 2
(bĕnd)n. Heraldry
A band passing from the upper dexter corner of an escutcheon to the lower sinister corner.
[Middle English, from Old English bend, band, and from Old French bende, bande, band (of Germanic origin; see bhendh- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).]
Bend
(bĕnd) A city of central Oregon on the Deschutes River in the eastern foothills of the Cascade Range.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Bending/Bent
- As crooked as a corkscrew —George Kaufman and Moss Hart
- As crooked as a dog’s elbow —F. T. Elworthy
- As crooked as a ram’s horn —Charles Caleb Colton
- Bending from the waist as if he was going to close up like a jackknife —John Dos Passos
- Bend like a finger joint —Charles Wright
- Bend like sheets of tin —Palmer Cox
- Bends with her laugh … like a rubber stick being shaken —Alice McDermott
- Bent as a country lane —John Wainwright
- Bent double like a tree in a high wind —Caryl Phillips
- Bent down like violets after rain —Thomas Bailey Aldrich
- Bent like a birch ice-laden —James Agee
- Bent like a bow —Aharon Megged
A variation on the bent bow image from William Mcllvanney’s novel, Laidlow: “Arching his body like a bow.”
- Bent like a broken flower —Algernon Charles Swinburne
- Bent like a rainbow —Robert Southey
Another way to express this image is to be “Bent like a rainbow arch.”
- Bent … like a soldier at the approach of an assault —Victor Hugo
- Bent like a wishbone —William Kennedy
- Bent slightly like a man who has been shot but continues to stand —Flannery O’Connor
- (The headwaiter) bowed like a poppy in the breeze —Ogden Nash
- Bows down like a willow tree in a storm —Erich Maria Remarque
- Coiled like a fetus —William H. Gass
A variation by Derek Lambert:“Curled up like a bulky fetus.”
- Coiled up like the letter ‘S’ —Damon Runyon
- Crooked like a comma —Sharon Sheehe Stark
- Curled himself like a comma into the waiting cab —William H. Hallhan
- Curled like a ball —Sterling Hayden
- Curled up in a ball like a wet puppy —Amos Oz
- Curled up [in sleeping position] like a fist around an egg —Leonard Michaels
- Curled up like a gun-dog —Colette
- (Bent over your books) curled up like a porcupine with a bellyache —Marge Piercy
- Curled up like fried bacon —Anon
- Curling up like a small animal —Nina Bawden
- Curling up like burning cardboard —Lawrence Durrell
- [A cat] curls up like a dormer mouse —Jayne Anne Phillips
- Drooped like a flower in the frost —John Greenleaf Whittier
- Folded over like a ruler from the waist —William H. Gass
- Folded up, like a marionette with cheap wooden hinges, and sat down —Graham Masterton
- (Never will I be) gibbous like the moon —Diane Ackerman
- Lean forward like firemen pulling a hose —Miller Williams
- Tilting like a paper cutout —Susan Minot
- Twisted as an old paint tube —Fannie Hurst
- A very old lady, her back curved over like a snail’s —Daphne Merkin
Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
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| Noun | 1. |  bending - movement that causes the formation of a curve |
| 2. | bending - the property of being bent or deflected physical property - any property used to characterize matter and energy and their interactions wind deflection, windage - the deflection of a projectile resulting from the effects of wind refractiveness, refractivity - the physical property of a medium as determined by its index of refraction | |
| 3. |  bending - the act of bending something change of shape - an action that changes the shape of something flexion, flexure - act of bending a joint; especially a joint between the bones of a limb so that the angle between them is decreased crouch - the act of bending low with the limbs close to the body hunch - the act of bending yourself into a humped position incurvation - the action of creating a curved shape |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
bending
adjectiveThe American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.