Nearby Words
verb (used with object)
1.
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.
EXPANDto incline mentally (usually followed 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.
COLLAPSEArchaic. to strain or brace tensely (often followed 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 followed 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.
EXPANDto bow in submission or reverence: bending to one's monarch.
14.
COLLAPSEto direct one's energies: We bent to our work as the bell sounded.
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Bending
is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
noun
Idioms15.
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).
20.
around/round the bend, Slang. insane; crazy: These interruptions will send me round the bend!
21.
bend/lean/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:
before 1000; Middle English benden (v.) Old English bendan to bind, bend (a bow); cognate with Middle High German benden, Old Norse benda; akin to Old Norse band band. See band3
before 1000; Middle English benden (v.) Old English bendan to bind, bend (a bow); cognate with Middle High German benden, Old Norse benda; akin to Old Norse band band. See band3
Related forms
bend·a·ble, adjective
non·bend·ing, adjective
re·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.
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. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To bending
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
bend
O.E. bendan "to confine with a string," causative of bindan "to bind," from P.Gmc. base *band- "string, band" (cf. O.N. benda "to join, strain, strive, bend"), from PIE base *bhendh- (cf. Goth. bindan, O.H.G. bintan, Skt. badhnati "binds," Lith. bendras "partner;" O.Pers. bandaka- "subject"). Modern
EXPANDsense (early 14c.) is via notion of bending a bow to string it. Cognate with band, bind, and bond. The noun meaning "thing of bent shape" is from c.1600. The bends "decompression pain" first attested 1894.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
bend (běnd)
v. bent (běnt), bend·ing, bends
To incline the body; stoop.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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