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bent

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

See also: Bent and ben't

English

Pronunciation

  • (UK, US) enPR: bĕnt, IPA(key): /bɛnt/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛnt

Etymology 1

From Middle English bent-, preterite stem (as in bente, benten, etc.), and Middle English bent, ibent, ybent, past participle forms of Middle English benden (“to bend”). Equivalent to bend +‎ -t.

Verb

bent

  1. simple past and past participle of bend

Adjective

bent (comparative benter or more bent, superlative bentest or most bent)

  1. (Of something that is usually straight) Folded, dented.
    Synonym: crooked
  2. (colloquial, chiefly UK) Corrupt, dishonest.
    Synonym: crooked
  3. (derogatory, colloquial, chiefly UK) Homosexual.
    Synonyms: queer; see also Thesaurus:homosexual
    • 2019 January 22, Joe Sommerlad, “The reasons why Bohemian Rhapsody faced such a massive backlash”, in The Independent‎:
      Asked bluntly by Julie Webb of the NME whether he was “bent” in December 1974, Freddie answered evasively: “You're a crafty cow. […] ”
  4. (with on) Determined or insistent.
    Synonym: hell-bent
    He was bent on going to Texas, but not even he could say why.
    They were bent on mischief.
    • 2017 July 7, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, “The ambitious War For The Planet Of The Apes ends up surrendering to formula”, in The Onion AV Club‎:
      […] in the ape posse, bent on vengeance, traversing landscapes clothed in snow and bristling with California red fir and silver pine, spooking human stragglers, and running across fresh graves as they search for the nameless colonel and try to piece together why the humans are killing each other.
  5. (with about) Annoyed; out of sorts; having a bee in one's bonnet.
    Near-synonym: butthurt
    She was bent about "certain kinds of people" having civil rights; she wanted to roll those back.
  6. (Of a person) leading a life of crime.
  7. (slang, soccer) Inaccurately aimed.
    That shot was so bent it left the pitch.
  8. (colloquial, chiefly US) Suffering from the bends.
  9. (slang) High from both marijuana and alcohol.
    Man, I am so bent right now!
Derived terms
Translations

Noun

bent (plural bents)

  1. An inclination or talent.
    He had a natural bent for painting.
  2. A predisposition to act or react in a particular way.
    His mind was of a technical bent.
  3. The state of being curved, crooked, or inclined from a straight line; flexure; curvity.
    the bent of a bow
  4. A declivity or slope, as of a hill.
  5. Particular direction or tendency; flexion; course.
  6. (carpentry) A transverse frame of a framed structure; a subunit of framing.
    1. Such a subunit as a component of a barn's framing, joined to other bents by girts and summer beams.
    2. Such a subunit as a reinforcement to, or integral part of, a bridge's framing.
  7. Tension; force of acting; energy; impetus.
    • 1707, John Norris, Practical Discourses Upon the Beatitudes of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.:
      the full bent and stress of the soul
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Etymology 2

From Middle English bent, benet, from Old English *beonot (attested only in place-names and personal names), from Proto-West Germanic *binut (“reed, rush”), of uncertain origin.

Noun

bent (countable and uncountable, plural bents)

  1. Any of various stiff or reedy grasses.
    Synonym: bentgrass
    • 1627, Michael Drayton, Nymphidia, published 1810, page 124:
      His spear a bent, both stiff and strong.
    • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes”, in The Phantom ’Rickshaw and Other Tales, Folio Society, published 2005, page 121:
      Gunga Dass gave me a double handful of dried bents which I thrust down the mouth of the lair to the right of his, and followed myself, feet foremost [...].
    • 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “chapter 9”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:
      Clusters of strong flowers rose everywhere above the coarse tussocks of bent.
  2. A grassy area, grassland.
  3. The old dried stalks of grasses.
Derived terms
Translations

Dutch

Hungarian

Lithuanian

Old Norse

Scots

Turkish

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