bent
/bɛnt/ adjective, noun, proper noun
Also a form of bend
Forms benter bentest bents
- adjective Folded or dented out of its usual shape.
- adjective (colloquial, chiefly UK) Corrupt, dishonest.
- adjective (derogatory, colloquial, chiefly UK) Homosexual.
- adjective (with on) Determined or insistent; inclined, set. “He was bent on going to Texas, but not even he could say why.”
- adjective (with about) Annoyed; out of sorts; having a bee in one's bonnet. “She was bent about "certain kinds of people" having civil rights; she wanted to roll those back.”
- adjective (Of a person) leading a life of crime.
- adjective (slang, soccer) Inaccurately aimed. “That shot was so bent it left the pitch.”
- adjective (colloquial, chiefly US) Suffering from the bends.
- noun An inclination or talent. “He had a natural bent for painting.”
- noun A predisposition to act or react in a particular way. “His mind was of a technical bent.”
- noun The state of being curved, crooked, or inclined from a straight line; flexure; curvity. “the bent of a bow”
- noun A declivity or slope, as of a hill.
- noun Particular direction or tendency; flexion; course.
- noun Such a subunit as a component of a barn's framing, joined to other bents by girts and summer beams.
- noun Such a subunit as a reinforcement to, or integral part of, a bridge's framing.
- noun Tension; force of acting; energy; impetus.
- noun Any of various stiff or reedy grasses.
- noun Bentgrass (Agrostis spp.).
- noun A grassy area, grassland.
- noun Old dried stalks of grasses.
Synonyms
crooked queer homophile homosexual like that similisexual that way hell-bent butthurt disposition predilection proclivity propensity set bent grass bent-grass knack hang bent on dead set out to bended crumpled dented
Etymology
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.
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.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Changed by pressure so as to be no longer straight; crooked; as, a bent pin; a bent lever.
- adjective 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.
- noun The state of being curved, crooked, or inclined from a straight line; flexure; curvity; as, the bent of a bow. [Obs.] Wilkins.
- noun A declivity or slope, as of a hill. [R.] Dryden.
Etymology [See Bend, n. & v.]
Etymology [AS. beonet; akin to OHG. pinuz, G. binse, rush, bent grass; of unknown origin.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bent”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details