bend

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To cause (something) to change its shape into a curve, by physical force, chemical action, or any other means.
2. (intransitive) To become curved.
3. (transitive) To cause to change direction.
4. (intransitive) To change direction.
5. (intransitive) To be inclined; to direct itself.
6. (intransitive, usually) To stoop.
7. (intransitive) To bow in prayer, or in token of submission.
8. (transitive) To force to submit.
9. (intransitive) To submit.
10. (transitive) To apply to a task or purpose.
11. (intransitive) To apply oneself to a task or purpose.
12. (transitive) To adapt or interpret to for a purpose or beneficiary.
13. (transitive) To tie, as in securing a line to a cleat; to shackle a chain to an anchor; make fast.
14. (transitive) To smoothly change the pitch of a note.
15. (intransitive) To swing the body when rowing.

Noun

1. A curve.
2. Any of the various knots which join the ends of two lines.
3. (in-plural) 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. (obsolete) 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. (in-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.
9. (in-plural) 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).

Synonyms

curve

bow

🙇

twist

fold

turn

stoop

crook

flex

incline

warp

lean

curvature

slant

arch

tilt

bent

bend down

sag

wind

flexure

yield

winding

lower

crookedness

crouch

bending

meander

inflect

distort

corner

curl

double

deflect

crease

draw

coil

huddle

tip

slope

submit

flexion

break

deform

decline

turn away

crooked

strain

buckle

contort

make crooked

Translations

courber

plier

biegen

buigen

doblar

beugen

piegare

curvar

curvare

krümmen

Kurve

pencher

fléchir

incliner

curva

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bɛnd/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: benden

Inherited from Old English: bendan

Cognate with Middle High German: benden

Cognate with Danish: bænde

Cognate with Norwegian: bende

Cognate with Faroese: benda

Cognate with Icelandic: benda

In summary

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.