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Bent - 12 dictionary results
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bent

1  [bent]
Use Bent in a Sentence
–adjective
1. curved; crooked: a bent bow; a bent stick.
2. determined; set; resolved (usually fol. by on): to be bent on buying a new car.
3. Chiefly British Slang.
a. morally crooked; corrupt.
b. stolen: bent merchandise.
c. homosexual.
–noun
4. direction taken, as by one's interests; inclination: a bent for painting.
5. capacity of endurance: to work at the top of one's bent.
6. Civil Engineering. a transverse frame, as of a bridge or an aqueduct, designed to support either vertical or horizontal loads.
7. Archaic. bent state or form; curvature.
Origin:
1525–35; orig. ptp. of bend 1

Synonyms:
1. bowed, flexed. 2. fixed. 4. tendency, propensity, proclivity, predilection, penchant, partiality, leaning, bias.

bent

2  [bent]
–noun
1. bent grass.
2. a stalk of bent grass.
3. Scot., North England. (formerly) any stiff grass or sedge.
4. British Dialect. a moor; heath; tract of uncultivated, grassy land, used as a pasture or hunting preserve.
Origin:
1300–50; ME; earlier benet-, bunet- (in compounds), OE beonet-, beonot- (in place names); c. OHG binuz (cf. G Binse) rush

bend

1  [bend] verb, bent or (Archaic) bend⋅ed; bend⋅ing, noun
–verb (used with object)
1. to force (an object, esp. a long or thin one) from a straight form into a curved or angular one, or from a curved or angular form into some different form: to bend an iron rod into a hoop.
2. to direct or turn in a particular direction: to bend one's energies to the task.
3. to cause to submit or yield: to bend someone to one's will.
4. to modify or relax (restrictions, regulations, etc.) temporarily or in certain circumstances: to bend the rules.
5. to incline mentally (usually fol. by to or toward): bending his thoughts back toward his childhood.
6. to pull back the string of (a bow or the like) in preparation for shooting.
7. Nautical. to fasten.
8. Archaic. to strain or brace tensely (often fol. by up).
–verb (used without object)
9. to become curved, crooked, or bent: a bow that bends easily.
10. to assume a bent posture; stoop (often fol. by over): to bend as one walks; to bend over and pick up something.
11. to turn or incline in a particular direction; be directed: The road bent toward the south.
12. to yield or submit; give in.
13. to bow in submission or reverence: bending to one's monarch.
14. to direct one's energies: We bent to our work as the bell sounded.
–noun
15. the act of bending.
16. something that bends; curve; crook: a bend in the road; a bend in the curtain rod.
17. Nautical. any of various loops or knots for joining the ends of two ropes or the like, or for joining the end of a rope or the like to some other object.
18. bends, Nautical.
a. thick planking immediately below the waterways of a wooden vessel.
b. the wales of a vessel.
19. the bends, aeroembolism (def. 2).
—Idioms
20. around or round the bend, Slang. insane; crazy: These interruptions will send me round the bend!
21. bend or lean or fall over backward, to exert oneself to the utmost; make a serious effort: They bent over backward to make sure their guests were comfortable.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME benden (v.) OE bendan to bind, bend (a bow); c. MHG benden, ON benda; akin to ON band band. See band 3

Related forms:
bend⋅a⋅ble, adjective

Synonyms:
1. curve, crook, flex, bow. 3. mold, subdue, influence. 10. Bend, bow, stoop imply taking a bent posture. Bend and bow are used of the head and upper body; stoop is used of the body only.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Bent
bend 1   (běnd)   
v.   bent (běnt), bend·ing, bends

v.   tr.
  1. To bring (something) into a state of tension: bend a bow.
    1. To cause to assume a curved or angular shape: bend a piece of iron into a horseshoe.
    2. 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).
    3. To misrepresent; distort: bend the truth.
    4. To relax or make an exception to: bend a rule to allow more members into the club.
  3. To cause to swerve from a straight line; deflect.
  4. To render submissive; subdue.
  5. 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).
  6. Nautical To fasten: bend a mainsail onto the boom.
v.   intr.
    1. To deviate from a straight line or position: The lane bends to the right at the bridge.
    2. 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.  
    1. The act or fact of bending.
    2. The state of being bent.
  2. Something bent: a bend in the road.
  3. bends Nautical The thick planks in a ship's side; wales.
  4. bends (used with a sing. or pl. verb) Decompression sickness. Used with the.

[Middle English benden, from Old English bendan; see bhendh- in Indo-European roots.]
Synonyms: These verbs mean to swerve or cause to swerve from a straight line: bent his knees and knelt; crooked an arm around the package; claws that curve under; rounding the lips to articulate an "o"
Antonym: straighten
bent 1   (běnt)   
v.  Past tense and past participle of bend1.
adj.  
  1. Altered from an originally straight or even condition: pieces of bent wire.
  2. Determined to take a course of action: I was bent on going to the theater.
  3. Chiefly British Corrupt; venal.
n.  
  1. A tendency, disposition, or inclination: "The natural bent of my mind was to science" (Thomas Paine).
  2. A transverse structural member or framework used for strengthening a bridge or trestle.
bent 2   (běnt)   
n.  
  1. Bent grass.
  2. The stiff stalk of various grasses.
  3. An area of grassland unbounded by hedges or fences.

[Middle English, from Old English beonet (attested only in place names).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Bent

Bent\, imp. & p. p. of Bend.

Bent

Bent\, a. & p. p. 1. Changed by pressure so as to be no longer straight; crooked; as, a bent pin; a bent lever.

2. Strongly inclined toward something, so as to be resolved, determined, set, etc.; -- said of the mind, character, disposition, desires, etc., and used with on; as, to be bent on going to college; he is bent on mischief.

Bent

Bent\, n. [See Bend, n. & v.]

1. The state of being curved, crooked, or inclined from a straight line; flexure; curvity; as, the bent of a bow. [Obs.] --Wilkins.

2. A declivity or slope, as of a hill. [R.] --Dryden.

3. A leaning or bias; proclivity; tendency of mind; inclination; disposition; purpose; aim. --Shak.

With a native bent did good pursue. --Dryden.

4. Particular direction or tendency; flexion; course.

Bents and turns of the matter. --Locke.

5. (Carp.) A transverse frame of a framed structure.

6. Tension; force of acting; energy; impetus. [Archaic]

The full bent and stress of the soul. --Norris.

Syn: Predilection; turn.

Usage: Bent, Bias, Inclination, Prepossession. These words agree in describing a permanent influence upon the mind which tends to decide its actions. Bent denotes a fixed tendency of the mind in a given direction. It is the widest of these terms, and applies to the will, the intellect, and the affections, taken conjointly; as, the whole bent of his character was toward evil practices. Bias is literally a weight fixed on one side of a ball used in bowling, and causing it to swerve from a straight course. Used figuratively, bias applies particularly to the judgment, and denotes something which acts with a permanent force on the character through that faculty; as, the bias of early education, early habits, etc. Inclination is an excited state of desire or appetency; as, a strong inclination to the study of the law. Prepossession is a mingled state of feeling and opinion in respect to some person or subject, which has laid hold of and occupied the mind previous to inquiry. The word is commonly used in a good sense, an unfavorable impression of this kind being denominated a prejudice. "Strong minds will be strongly bent, and usually labor under a strong bias; but there is no mind so weak and powerless as not to have its inclinations, and none so guarded as to be without its prepossessions." --Crabb.

Bent

Bent\, n. [AS. beonet; akin to OHG. pinuz, G. binse, rush, bent grass; of unknown origin.]

1. A reedlike grass; a stalk of stiff, coarse grass.

His spear a bent, both stiff and strong. --Drayton.

2. (Bot.) A grass of the genus Agrostis, esp. Agrostis vulgaris, or redtop. The name is also used of many other grasses, esp. in America.

3. Any neglected field or broken ground; a common; a moor. [Obs.] --Wright.

Bowmen bickered upon the bent. --Chevy Chase.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Bent
Spanish: inclinación,
German: die Neigung,
Japanese: 性向
More Translations »

bent  (1)
"mental inclination," 1586, from the adj., "not straight" (c.1374), originally pp. of bend. The verb meaning "directed in a course" is from 1697. Phrase bent out of shape "extremely upset" is 1960s Air Force and college student slang.

bent  (2)
"stiff grass," O.E. beonet, from W.Gmc. *binut- "rush, marsh grass" (cf. Ger. binse "rush, reed"), of unknown origin. An obsolete word, but common in place names (cf. Bentley, from O.E. Beonet-leah).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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