bent — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Folded or dented out of its usual shape.

   Synonyms

   crooked

2. Corrupt, dishonest.

   Usage

   • UK usage
   • Colloquial

   Synonyms

   crooked

   Examples

   To say LAPD has a history of protecting bent cops and punishing honest ones is an insult to the annual drumbeat of new scandals.

3. Homosexual.

   Usage

   • UK usage
   • Colloquial
   • Derogatory

   Synonyms

   queer

   Examples

   Asked bluntly by Julie Webb of the NME whether he was “bent” in December 1974, Freddie answered evasively: “You're a crafty cow. […]”

4. Determined or insistent; inclined, set.

   Usage

   • with-on

   Synonyms

   hell-bent

   Examples

   He was bent on going to Texas, but not even he could say why.

   They were bent on mischief.

   More examples (1)

   […]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. Annoyed; out of sorts; having a bee in one's bonnet.

   Usage

   • with about

   Synonyms

   butthurt

   Examples

   Near-synonym: butthurt

   She was bent about "certain kinds of people" having civil rights; she wanted to roll those back.

6. leading a life of crime.

7. Inaccurately aimed.

   Usage

   • Slang

   Examples

   That shot was so bent it left the pitch.

8. Suffering from the bends.

   Usage

   • US usage
   • Colloquial

9. High from both marijuana and alcohol.

   Usage

   • Slang

   Examples

   Man, I am so bent right now!

Noun

1. An inclination or talent.

   Examples

   He had a natural bent for painting.

   the top of one's bent

   More examples (2)

   They fool me to the top of my bent.

   “The Kingdom of the Wicked” is not Mr. Burgess at the top of his bent. It is not schlock.

2. A predisposition to act or react in a particular way.

   Examples

   His mind was of a technical bent.

3. The state of being curved, crooked, or inclined from a straight line; flexure; curvity.

   Examples

   the bent of a bow

   the force they have in the discharge , according to several bents

4. A declivity or slope, as of a hill.

   Examples

   Beneath the lowering brow, and on a bent, / The temple stood of Mars armipotent

5. Particular direction or tendency; flexion; course.

   Examples

   bents and turns of the matter

6. A transverse frame of a framed structure; a subunit of framing. Such a subunit as a component of a barn's framing, joined to other bents by girts and summer beams.

7. A transverse frame of a framed structure; a subunit of framing. Such a subunit as a reinforcement to, or integral part of, a bridge's framing.

8. Tension; force of acting; energy; impetus.

   Examples

   the full bent and stress of the soul

Noun

1. Any of various stiff or reedy grasses.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   His spear a bent, both stiff and strong.

   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 [...].

   More examples (1)

   Clusters of strong flowers rose everywhere above the coarse tussocks of bent.

2. Bentgrass (Agrostis spp.).

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

3. A grassy area, grassland.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   c. 1500, The Ballad of Chevy Chase Bowmen bickered upon the bent.

4. Old dried stalks of grasses.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

Adjective

1. fixed in your purpose

   Synonyms

   bent ondead setout to

   Examples

   bent on going to the theater

   dead set against intervening

   More examples (1)

   out to win every event

2. used of the back and knees; stooped

   Synonyms

   bended

   Examples

   on bended knee

   with bent (or bended) back

3. of metal e.g.

   Synonyms

   crumpleddented

   Examples

   bent nails

   a car with a crumpled front end

   More examples (1)

   dented fenders

Noun

1. a relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way

   Synonyms

   set

   Broader terms

   inclinationdispositiontendency

   Examples

   the set of his mind was obvious

2. grass for pastures and lawns especially bowling and putting greens

   Synonyms

   bent grassbent-grass

   Broader terms

   grass

3. an area of grassland unbounded by fences or hedges

   Broader terms

   grassland

4. a special way of doing something

   Synonyms

   knackhang

   Broader terms

   endowmentgifttalentnatural endowment

   Examples

   he had a bent for it

   he had a special knack for getting into trouble

   More examples (1)

   he couldn't get the hang of it