1. (v. t.) To strain or move out of a straight line; to crook by straining; to make crooked; to curve; to make ready for use by drawing into a curve; as, to bend a bow; to bend the knee.
2. (v. t.) To turn toward some certain point; to direct; to incline.
3. (v. t.) To apply closely or with interest; to direct.
4. (v. t.) To cause to yield; to render submissive; to subdue.
5. (v. t.) To fasten, as one rope to another, or as a sail to its yard or stay; or as a cable to the ring of an anchor.
6. (v. i.) To be moved or strained out of a straight line; to crook or be curving; to bow.
7. (v. i.) To jut over; to overhang.
8. (v. i.) To be inclined; to be directed.
9. (v. i.) To bow in prayer, or in token of submission.
10. (n.) A turn or deflection from a straight line or from the proper direction or normal position; a curve; a crook; as, a slight bend of the body; a bend in a road.
11. (n.) Turn; purpose; inclination; ends.
12. (n.) A knot by which one rope is fastened to another or to an anchor, spar, or post.
13. (n.) The best quality of sole leather; a butt. See Butt.
14. (n.) Hard, indurate clay; bind.
15. (n.) Same as caisson disease. Usually referred to as the bends.
16. (n.) A band.
17. (n.) One of the honorable ordinaries, containing a third or a fifth part of the field. It crosses the field diagonally from the dexter chief to the sinister base.
Thesaurus Entries
L, S-curve, aberrancy, aberration, accommodate, accommodate with, accord, achievement, adapt, adapt to, adjust, adjust to, affect, agree with, aim, aim at, alerion, angle, angle off, animal charge, annulet, apex, apply, arc, arch, argent, armorial bearings, armory, arms, assimilate to, azure, band, bandage, bandeau, bar, bar sinister, baton, be guided by, bear off, bearings, beat down, belt, bend, bend back, bend sinister, bend the knee, bend the neck, bend to, bending, bending the knee, bent, bias, bifurcate, bifurcation, bight, billet, bind, bind up, blazon, blazonry, bob, bob a curtsy, bob down, bordure, bow, bow and scrape, bow down, bow the head, bow to, bowing, bowing and scraping, brace, branch, branch off, branching off, break, break down, bring low, bring to terms, broad arrow, buckle, buckle down, bundle, cadency mark, cant, canton, cave, chain, change the bearing, channel, chaplet, charge, chevron, chief, chime in with, cinch, circuitousness, coat of arms, cockatrice, coin, collapse, color, comply, comply with, compose, conduce, conflexure, conform, conquer, contort, contribute, corner, coronet, correct, correspond, cower, crank, crescent, crest, cringe, cringe to, crook, cross, cross moline, crotchet, crouch, crouch before, crown, crumple, crush, curl, curtsy, curvation, curvature, curve, declination, decurve, deflect, deflection, depart from, departure, determine, detour, deviance, deviancy, deviate, deviation, device, deviousness, devote, diagonal, difference, differencing, diffract, diffuse, digress, digression, dipping the colors, direct, directionize, discipline, discursion, disperse, dispose, distort, divagate, divagation, divaricate, divarication, diverge, divergence, diversion, divert, do homage, do obeisance, do up, dogleg, dome, double, drift, drifting, duck, eagle, elbow, ell, embow, ermine, ermines, erminites, erminois, errantry, escutcheon, excursion, excursus, exorbitation, falcon, fall down before, fall in with, fell, fess, fess point, field, file, fit, fix, fix on, flanch, flatten, flection, fleur-de-lis, flex, flexure, focus, fold up, follow, fork, fret, fur, furcate, furcation, fusil, garland, geanticline, gear to, genuflect, genuflection, geosyncline, get down, gird, girdle, girt, girth, give, give way, gnarl, go, go by, griffin, grovel, gules, gyron, hairpin, hairpin turn, harmonize, hatchment, have a tendency, head, heel, helmet, heraldic device, hold on, homage, honor point, hook
