English Explanatory Dictionary

bend

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To cause (something) to change its shape into a curve, by physical force, chemical action, or any other means.
  2. To become curved.
  3. To cause to change direction.
  4. To change direction.
  5. To be inclined; to direct itself.
  6. To stoop.
  7. To bow in prayer, or in token of submission.
  8. To force to submit.
  9. To submit.
  10. To apply to a task or purpose.
  11. To apply oneself to a task or purpose.
  12. To adapt or interpret to for a purpose or beneficiary.
noun
  1. A curve.
  2. Any of the various knots which join the ends of two lines.
  3. A severe condition caused by excessively quick decompression, causing bubbles of nitrogen to form in the blood; decompression sickness.
  4. 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.
  5. Turn; purpose; inclination; ends.
  6. In the leather trade, the best quality of sole leather; a butt; sometimes, half a butt cut lengthwise.
  7. Hard, indurated clay; bind.
  8. The thickest and strongest planks in a ship's sides, more generally called wales, which have the beams, knees, and futtocks bolted to them.
  9. The frames or ribs that form the ship's body from the keel to the top of the sides.
  10. A glissando, or glide between one pitch and another, especially one accomplished by bending a string (such as on guitar).
name
  1. A ghost town and former railway community in central British Columbia, Canada. Named after a 90-degree curve in the railway line.
  2. A census-designated place in Tehama County, California, United States.
  3. An unincorporated community in Maries County, Missouri, United States.
  4. A city, the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States.
  5. An unincorporated community in Meade County, South Dakota, United States.
  6. An unincorporated community in Lampasas County and San Saba County, Texas, United States.
  7. A surname.

Pronunciation

bĕnd /bɛnd/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bend.wav /bɪnd/

Word forms

bend bends bending bent bended

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *bindaną Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Germanic *-janą Proto-Germanic *bandijaną Proto-West Germanic *bandijan Old English bendan Middle English benden English bend From Middle English benden, from Old English bendan (“to bind or bend (a bow), fetter, restrain”), from Proto-West Germanic *bandijan, from Proto-Germanic *bandijaną (“to bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to bind, tie”). Cognate with Middle High German benden (“to fetter”), Danish bænde (“to bend”), Norwegian bende (“to bend”), Faroese benda (“to bend, inflect”), Icelandic benda (“to bend”). Related to bind, band, bond.

Synonyms

bend bow courb curb curl curve crook flex incurvate

Antonyms

straighten rectify unbend uncoil uncurl unfold unroll

Related words

bent

Derived words

backbend bendability bendable bend down bender bend it like Beckham bend one off bend one's elbow bend out of shape bend over bend over backwards bend somebody's ear bend someone's ear bend someone's will bend the brain bend the knee bend the rules bend the truth bend to one's will bend to someone's will brain-bending databend debend disbend genderbend inbend mind-bending on bended knee overbend prebend racebend rebend unbend upbend above one's bend adjustable bend alpine butterfly bend anchor bend around the bend Ashley's bend becket bend bend dexter Bendgate bendless bendlet bendly Bend of Islands bendopnea bend sinister bendsome bendwise bendy Boundary Bend butterfly bend carrick bend double sheet bend East Bend Flemish bend Fort Bend County Great Bend

Translations

Afrikaans: buig Albanian: ep Albanian: lakoj Albanian: përkul Aleut: kahngil Arabic: ثَنَى Armenian: ծռել Azerbaijani: bükmək Azerbaijani: əymək Belarusian: згіна́ць Belarusian: гнуць Bulgarian: извивам Bulgarian: превивам Chechen: сатта Chinese Mandarin: 彎 /弯 Cornish: plegya Czech: ohnout Danish: bøje Dutch: buigen Dutch: plooien Esperanto: kurbigi Esperanto: fleksi Esperanto: klini Finnish: taivuttaa French: courber French: tordre Galician: curvar Georgian: მოხრა German: beugen Greek: λυγίζω Greek: καμπύλλω Ancient Greek: κάμπτω Hebrew: כופף Hindi: झुकाव Hindi: प्रवृत्ति Hungarian: hajlít Hungarian: görbít Hungarian: kanyarít Icelandic: beygja Ingrian: painaa Ingrian: painuttaa Ingush: соттае Italian: curvare Italian: piegare Japanese: 曲げる Korean: 구부리다 Central Kurdish: چەماندن Latgalian: salīkt Latgalian: puorlīkt Latin: flectō Latin: sinuō Latin: curvō Latvian: saliekt Lithuanian: sulenkti Malayalam: വളയ്ക്കുക Māori: ngawaki Māori: whakapiko Māori: whatiwhati Māori: whakariroi Middle English: croken Classical Nahuatl: cuēloā Classical Nahuatl: cuelpachoā
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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