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View synonyms for

bent

1

[ bent ]

adjective

  1. curved; crooked: a bent stick.

    a bent bow;

    a bent stick.

    Synonyms: ,

  2. determined; set; resolved (usually followed by on ):

    to be bent on buying a new car.

    Synonyms:

  3. Chiefly British Slang.
    1. morally crooked; corrupt.
    2. stolen:

      bent merchandise.

    3. unbalanced or crazy; irrational:

      Man, your take on things is so bent I can hardly follow it.

  4. Chiefly British Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. gay ( def 1 ).


noun

  1. direction taken, as by one's interests; inclination:

    a bent for painting.

    Synonyms: , , , , , , ,

  2. capacity of endurance:

    to work at the top of one's bent.

  3. Civil Engineering. a transverse frame, as of a bridge or an aqueduct, designed to support either vertical or horizontal loads.
  4. Archaic. bent state or form; curvature.

verb

  1. the simple past tense and past participle of bend 1.

bent

2

[ bent ]

noun

  1. a stalk of bent grass.
  2. Scot., North England. (formerly) any stiff grass or sedge.
  3. British Dialect. a moor; heath; tract of uncultivated, grassy land, used as a pasture or hunting preserve.

bent

1

/ ɛԳ /

adjective

  1. not straight; curved
  2. foll by on fixed (on a course of action); resolved (to); determined (to)
  3. slang.
    1. dishonest; corrupt
    2. (of goods) stolen
    3. crazy; mad
    4. homosexual
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. personal inclination, propensity, or aptitude
  2. capacity of endurance (esp in the phrase to the top of one's bent )
  3. civil engineering a framework placed across a structure to stiffen it
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

bent

2

/ ɛԳ /

noun

  1. short for bent grass
  2. a stalk of bent grass
  3. archaic.
    any stiff grass or sedge
  4. dialect.
    heath or moorland
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of bent1

First recorded in 1350–1400 for the adjective and past tense; past participle of bend 1

Origin of bent2

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English; earlier benet-, bunet- (in compounds), Old English beonet-, beonot- (in placenames); cognate with Old High German binuz (compare German Binse ) “the rush plant”
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Word History and Origins

Origin of bent1

Old English bionot ; related to Old Saxon binet , Old High German binuz rush
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. bent (out of shape), Informal. angry or upset: Also bent up.

    I like that you can share your thoughts on stuff and not get bent out of shape if I disagree.

    I don’t know why you’re so bent—I’m just a couple minutes late.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The prosecutor said Charron stabbed Sardinha twice in the chest, nearly sliced her nose off, and stabbed her in the head so hard it bent a pronged tomato knife he was using.

From

And in next year's mid-term congressional elections, those majorities could be replaced by hostile Democrats bent on investigating the administration and curtailing his authority.

From

We arrived at fields where four rockets had landed, children were playing with the bent metal and shrapnel from the strikes.

From

"This is a choice between a Conservative Party that stood up for common sense and a Labour Party that bent the knee to every passing fad," she said.

From

Instead, Texas entered a rebuild, giving Woodward’s job a much more developmentally focused bent.

From

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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bensulidebent grass