bent

• (UK, US) enPR: bĕnt, IPA^(key): /bɛnt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnt

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”). Equivalennt to bend +‎ -t.

bent

1. simple past and past participle of bend

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. 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. (Of a person) leading a life of crime.
6. (slang, soccer) Inaccurately aimed.

   That shot was so bent it left the pitch.

7. (colloquial, chiefly US) Suffering from the bends.
8. (slang) High from both marijuana and alcohol.

   Man, I am so bent right now!

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• (determined): hell-bent

bent (plural bents)

1. An inclination or talent.

   He had a natural bent for painting.

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 384:

     They fool me to the top of my bent.

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

   • 1648, John Wilkins, Mathematical Magick:

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

4. A declivity or slope, as of a hill.
   • 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

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

5. Particular direction or tendency; flexion; course.
   • a. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC:

     bents and turns of the matter

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

• (an inclination or talent): disposition, predilection, proclivity, propensity, see also Thesaurus:predilection

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.

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.
   • c. 1500, The Ballad of Chevy Chase

     Bowmen bickered upon the bent.

3. The old dried stalks of grasses.

Innovative form replacing older zijt, which is still maintained in combination with the archaic/southern gij. The form bent was built by analogy with ben (“I am”) after jij had adopted the function of second-person singular. In this it may (but need not) have been influenced by Middle Dutch bes, the form used with the defunct singular pronoun du.[1]

• IPA^(key): /bɛnt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnt

bent

1. second-person singular present indicative of zijn; are.

From benn, following the example of alant and lent.[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈbɛnt]

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bent
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

bent (comparative beljebb or bentebb, superlative legbeljebb or legbentebb)

1. inside

   Synonym: benn

   Antonyms: kinn, kint

• bent , mostly redirecting to benn in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• bent in Ittzés, Nóra (ed.). A magyar nyelv nagyszótára (‘A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published A–ez as of 2024)

bent

1. at least

   Synonyms: mažiausia, mažiausiai

bent

1. strong neuter nominative/accusative singular of bendr

bent

1. supine of benda

• bynt

From Old English beonet, compare Middle English bent.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛnt/

bent (plural bents)

1. (archaic, 14th century) Coarse or wiry grass growing upon moorlands.
2. (archaic, 15th century) An area covered with coarse or wiry grass; a moor.

• benty (covered in bent)

From Persian بند (band).

bent (definite accusative bendi, plural bentler)

1. dam