bend
see also: Bend
Pronunciation Verb
Bend
Proper noun
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see also: Bend
Pronunciation Verb
bend (bends, present participle bending; past and past participle bent)
- (transitive) To cause (something) to change its shape into a curve, by physical force, chemical action, or any other means.
- If you bend the pipe too far, it will break.
- Don’t bend your knees.
- (intransitive) To become curved.
- Look at the trees bending in the wind.
- (transitive) To cause to change direction.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708 ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554 ↗:
- Bend thine ear to supplication.
- c. 1591–1592, William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene viii]:
- Towards Coventry bend we our course.
- 1816, [Walter Scott], The Antiquary. [...] In Three Volumes, volume (
please specify ), Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, OCLC 226649000 ↗:
- (intransitive) To change direction.
- The road bends to the right
- (intransitive) To be inclined; to direct itself.
- 1634, John Milton, “Arcades”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […] , London: Printed by Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Moſely, […], published 1645, OCLC 606951673 ↗:
- to whom our vows and wishes bend
- (intransitive, usually, with "down") To stoop.
- He bent down to pick up the pieces.
- (intransitive) To bow in prayer, or in token of submission.
- Each to his great Father bends.
- (transitive) To force to submit.
- They bent me to their will.
- 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene v]:
- Of liegers for her sweet, and which she after
Except she bend her humour, shall be assured
To taste of too.
- (intransitive) To submit.
- I am bending to my desire to eat junk food.
- (transitive) To apply to a task or purpose.
- He bent the company's resources to gaining market share.
- to bend his mind to any public business
- 1717, Alexander Pope, “The Rape of the Lock”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: Printed by W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], OCLC 43265629 ↗, canto III:
- when to mischief mortals bend their will
- (intransitive) To apply oneself to a task or purpose.
- He bent to the goal of gaining market share.
- (transitive) To adapt or interpret to for a purpose or beneficiary.
- (transitive, nautical) To tie, as in securing a line to a cleat; to shackle a chain to an anchor; make fast.
- Bend the sail to the yard.
- (transitive, music) To smoothly change the pitch of a note.
- You should bend the G slightly sharp in the next measure.
- (intransitive, nautical) To swing the body when rowing.
- French: courber
- German: beugen
- Italian: curvare, piegare
- Portuguese: dobrar, curvar
- Russian: сгиба́ть
- Spanish: doblar, curvar
- French: courber
- German: biegen, biegen, durchbiegen
- Portuguese: dobrar-se, curvar-se
- Russian: гну́ться
- Spanish: doblarse
- French: se baisser
- Spanish: agacharse
- Spanish: inclinarse
- Italian: ammanigliare
- German: beugen
bend (plural bends)
- A curve.
- 1968, Johnny Cash, Folsom Prison Blues
- I hear the train a comin'/It's rolling round the bend
- There's a sharp bend in the road ahead.
- 1968, Johnny Cash, Folsom Prison Blues
- Any of the various knots which join the ends of two lines.
- (in the plural, medicine, underwater diving, with the) A severe condition caused by excessively quick decompression, causing bubbles of nitrogen to form in the blood; decompression sickness.
- A diver who stays deep for too long must ascend very slowly in order to prevent the bends.
- (heraldiccharge) One of the honourable ordinaries formed by two diagonal lines drawn from the dexter chief to the sinister base; it generally occupies a fifth part of the shield if uncharged, but if charged one third.
- (obsolete) Turn; purpose; inclination; ends.
- 1608, John Fletcher, The Faithful Shepherdess, Act 1, Scene 3
- Farewell, poor swain; thou art not for my bend.
- 1608, John Fletcher, The Faithful Shepherdess, Act 1, Scene 3
- In the leather trade, the best quality of sole leather; a butt; sometimes, half a butt cut lengthwise.
- (mining) Hard, indurated clay; bind.
- (nautical, in the plural) The thickest and strongest planks in a ship's sides, more generally called wales, which have the beams, knees, and futtocks bolted to them.
- (nautical, in the plural) The frames or ribs that form the ship's body from the keel to the top of the sides.
- the midship bends
- (music) A glissando, or glide between one pitch and another.
- French: accident de décompression, maladie des caissons
- Portuguese: doença de descompressão
- French: bande
- German: Schrägbalken
- Italian: banda
- Portuguese: banda
- Spanish: banda
Bend
Proper noun
- A ghost town/and/former railway community in central British Columbia. Named after a 90-degree curve in the railway line.
- A census-designated place in Tehama County, California.
- An unincorporated community in Maries County, Missouri.
- A city/county seat in Deschutes County, Oregon.
- An unincorporated community in Meade County, South Dakota.
- An unincorporated community in Lampasas County, and.
- Surname
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.004