What does bent mean?
Definitions for bent
bɛntbent
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word bent.
Princeton's WordNet
bent, setnoun
a relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way
"the set of his mind was obvious"
bent, bent grass, bent-grassnoun
grass for pastures and lawns especially bowling and putting greens
bentnoun
an area of grassland unbounded by fences or hedges
bent, knack, hangadjective
a special way of doing something
"he had a bent for it"; "he had a special knack for getting into trouble"; "he couldn't get the hang of it"
bent, bent on(p), dead set(p), out to(p)adjective
fixed in your purpose
"bent on going to the theater"; "dead set against intervening"; "out to win every event"
bended, bentadjective
used of the back and knees; stooped
"on bended knee"; "with bent (or bended) back"
bent, crumpled, dentedadjective
of metal e.g.
"bent nails"; "a car with a crumpled front end"; "dented fenders"
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Bentnoun
Etymology: from the verb to bend.
Strike gently, and hold your rod at a bent a little while. Izaak Walton, Angler.
There are divers subtle inquiries concerning the strength required to the bending of them; the force they have in the discharge, according to the several bents; and the strength required to be in the string of them. John Wilkins, Mathematical Magick.
A mountain stood,
Threat’ning from high, and overlook’d the wood:
Beneath the lowring brow, and on a bent,
The temple stood of Mars armipotent. John Dryden, Pal. and Arc.Then let thy love be younger than thyself,
Or thy affection cannot hold the bent. William Shakespeare, Tw. Night.We both obey,
And here give up ourselves, in the full bent,
To lay our service freely at your feet. William Shakespeare, Hamlet.The understanding should be brought to the knotty parts of knowledge, that try the strength of thought, and a full bent of the mind, by insensible degrees. John Locke.
O who does know the bent of womens fantasy! Fairy Queen, b. i. cant. iv. stanz. 24.
To your own bents dispose you; you’ll be found,
Be you beneath the sky. William Shakespeare, Winter’s Tale.He knew the strong bent of the country towards the house of York. Francis Bacon, Henry VII.
Soon inclin’d t’ admit delight,
The bent of nature! John Milton, Par. Lost, b. xi. l. 597.The golden age was first; when man, yet new,
No rule but uncorrupted reason knew;
And, with a native bent, did good pursue. John Dryden, Ovid.Let there be the same propensity and bent of will to religion, and there will be the same sedulity and indefatigable industry. South.
’Tis odds but the scale turns at last on nature’s side, and the evidence of one or two senses gives way to the united bent and tendency of all the five. Francis Atterbury.
Their unbelief we may not impute unto insufficiency in the mean which is used, but to the wilful bent of their obstinate hearts against it. Richard Hooker, b. v. § 22.
Yet we saw them forced to give way to the bent, and current humour of the people, in favour of their ancient and lawful government. William Temple.
Not a courtier,
Although they wear their faces to the bent
Of the king’s look, but hath a heart that is
Glad at the thing they scoul at. William Shakespeare, Cymbeline.Two of them hath the very bent of honour. William Shakespeare, Much ado about Nothing.
Then thy streight rule set virtue in my sight,
The crooked line reforming by the right;
My reason took the bent of thy command,
Was form’d and polish’d by thy skilful hand. John Dryden, Pers.The exercising the understanding, in the several ways of reasoning, teacheth the mind suppleness, to apply itself more dexterously to bents and turns of the matter, in all its researches. John Locke.
His spear, a bent both stiff and strong,
And well near of two inches long;
The pile was of a horse-fly’s tongue,
Whose sharpness naught reversed. Michael Drayton, Nymphid.Then the flowers of the vines; it is a little dust, like the dust of a bent, which grows upon the cluster, in the first coming forth. Francis Bacon, Essays.
June is drawn in a mantle of dark grass-green, upon his head a garland of bents, kingcups, and maidenhair. Henry Peacham, on Drawing.
Wikipedia
Bent
Bent is a song by American alternative rock band Matchbox Twenty. It was released in April 2000 as the lead single from their second album Mad Season. "Bent" became the band's first and only song to top the US Billboard Hot 100, reaching number one on the chart dated July 22, 2000 and spending one week at the position. The song also topped the RPM Top Singles chart in Canada for five nonconsecutive weeks.
ChatGPT
bent
Bent refers to something that is not straight or in its original shape, often curved or angled due to force or manipulation. It can also refer to a natural inclination or tendency towards a particular character, behavior, or action.
Webster Dictionary
Bent
of Bend
Bent
imp. & p. p. of Bend
Bent
changed by pressure so as to be no longer straight; crooked; as, a bent pin; a bent lever
Bent
strongly inclined toward something, so as to be resolved, determined, set, etc.; -- said of the mind, character, disposition, desires, etc., and used with on; as, to be bent on going to college; he is bent on mischief
Bent
the state of being curved, crooked, or inclined from a straight line; flexure; curvity; as, the bent of a bow
Bent
a declivity or slope, as of a hill
Bent
a leaning or bias; proclivity; tendency of mind; inclination; disposition; purpose; aim
Bent
particular direction or tendency; flexion; course
Bent
a transverse frame of a framed structure
Bent
tension; force of acting; energy; impetus
Bentnoun
a reedlike grass; a stalk of stiff, coarse grass
Bentnoun
a grass of the genus Agrostis, esp. Agrostis vulgaris, or redtop. The name is also used of many other grasses, esp. in America
Bentnoun
any neglected field or broken ground; a common; a moor
Wikidata
Bent
Bent is a 1979 play by Martin Sherman. It revolves around the persecution of gays in Nazi Germany, and takes place during and after the Night of the Long Knives. The title of the play refers to the slang word "bent" used in some European countries to refer to homosexuals. When the play was first performed, there was only a trickle of historical research or even awareness about the Nazi persecution of homosexuals. In some regards, the play helped increase that historical research and education in the 1980s and 1990s. The play starred Ian McKellen in its original 1979 West-End production, and Richard Gere in its original 1980 Broadway production. In 1989, Sean Mathias directed a revival of the play, performed as a one-night benefit for Stonewall, featuring Ian McKellen, Richard E Grant, Ian Charleson, and Ralph Fiennes. After receiving critical acclaim, Mathias directed a full run in 1990, with Ian McKellen, Paul Rhys, and Christopher Eccleston, which won the City Limits Award for Revival of the Year. In 1997, Martin Sherman adapted Bent into a film of the same name, which was directed by Sean Mathias.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Bent
bent, pa.t. and pa.p. of Bend.
Bent
bent, n. leaning or bias: tendency: intention: natural inclination of the mind towards anything: the condition of being bent, curved form: (rare) slope or declivity: (Shak.) a cast, as of the eye: the extent to which a bow may be bent—degree of tension, capacity of endurance, as in the phrase 'to the top of one's bent' = to the full measure of one's inclination. [See Bend.]
Bent
bent, n. any stiff or wiry grass: the old dried stalks of grasses: a special genus (Agrostis) containing about sixty species of grasses, all slender and delicate in appearance, and some useful as pasture-grasses and for hay: a place covered with such, a heath: a hillside.—Often Bent′-grass.—Ben′net is a variant, a name applied to the wild barley-grass.—adj. Bent′y.—To take to the bent (Scot.), to fly to the moors, to escape from some danger by flight. [A.S. beonet, found in place-names, as Beonetléah, Bentley; the history is obscure, but the word is doubtless Teut.; cf. Ger. binse.]
Dictionary of Nautical Terms
bent
The trivial name of the Arundo arenaria, or coarse unprofitable grass growing on the sea-shore.
Rap Dictionary
bentverb
Drunk. It doesn't matter if I'm dead sober or I'm bent -- Heltah Skeltah (Therapy).
bentverb
Sad. You got me bent like elbows, amongst other things -- OutKast (Aliens).
bentverb
Whipped or in love. Tell me why you just can't take a hint that I'm with someone else that's got me bent. -- Sisqo (homewreaker") mixed up with someone else. fu**ed up or messed up. (you got me bent!)
Suggested Resources
bent
Song lyrics by bent -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by bent on the Lyrics.com website.
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
BENT
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Bent is ranked #7001 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Bent surname appeared 4,785 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 would have the surname Bent.
60.2% or 2,884 total occurrences were White.
29.4% or 1,408 total occurrences were Black.
6.4% or 307 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
2.4% or 115 total occurrences were of two or more races.
0.8% or 40 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
0.6% or 31 total occurrences were Asian.
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'bent' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4280
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of bent in Chaldean Numerology is: 7
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of bent in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5
Examples of bent in a Sentence
I think he's a communist. I think he's actually a communist with a socialistic bent, anybody that would say that the Paris attacks were caused by global warming, there's something missing.
We think that this says more about the bent towards secrecy within some corners of the government. It says more about that than it does about Hillary Clinton’s email practices.
Maybe you're right, boss. It all depends on the way you look at it. Look, one day I had gone to a little village. An old grandfather of ninety was busy planting an almond tree. 'What, grandad' I exclaimed. 'Planting an almond tree' and he, bent as he was, turned round and said, 'My son, I carry on as if I should never die.' I replied, 'And I carry on as if I was going to die any minute.' Which of us was right, boss
We have so many Filipinos working mainly in the Middle East. I am nervous. Iran seems to be hell-bent on a retaliation, which I think will come.
She just bent over and bit me really hard, i've never been bit by an adult in my live, or anyone over 5.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for bent
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- انحنىArabic
- педерастки, склонност, огънат, склонен, влечениеBulgarian
- tortCatalan, Valencian
- ohnutýCzech
- bøjetDanish
- gebeugt, gebogenGerman
- κλίσηGreek
- predisposición, plegado, inclinación, dobladoSpanish
- خمPersian
- taittunut, taipunutFinnish
- courbéFrench
- lùbachScottish Gaelic
- झुका हुआHindi
- hajlított, görbe, hajlottHungarian
- bengkokIndonesian
- piegatoItalian
- עקוםHebrew
- 曲がったJapanese
- ಬಾಗಿಸುKannada
- 굽은Korean
- тилек, чабынды, умтулуу, өнөкөт, ийрейүү, талаа, куштарлык, адат, тырышуу, ынтызарлык, ынта, муундуу, шыктуулук, кунт, эңкейиш, жантайма, ийилген, ийретүү, кыйшык, умтулган, шык, бурулуш, бүкчүйгөн, ийри-буйру, кыйшайуу, шалбаа, кайрылыш, муунактууKyrgyz
- bentLatin
- met de zinnen gezet op, gebogen, aanleg, kromDutch
- bøydNorwegian
- przegięty, zgiętyPolish
- curvadoPortuguese
- îndoit, gârbovRomanian
- изогнутый, искривлённый, гнутый, кривой, согнутыйRussian
- böjdSwedish
- வளைந்தTamil
- బెంట్Telugu
- ก้มThai
- kıvrılmışTurkish
- зігнутийUkrainian
- جھکاUrdu
- uốn congVietnamese
- bentYiddish
- 弯曲Chinese
Get even more translations for bent »
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