Bent on
curved; crooked:
a bent bow; a bent stick.
determined; set; resolved (usually followed by on):
to be bent on buying a new car.
chiefly british slang.
morally crooked; corrupt.
stolen:
bent merchandise.
h-m-s-xual.
direction taken, as by one’s interests; inclination:
a bent for painting.
capacity of endurance:
to work at the top of one’s bent.
civil engineering. a transverse frame, as of a bridge or an aqueduct, designed to support either vertical or horizontal loads.
archaic. bent state or form; curvature.
adjective
not straight; curved
(foll by on) fixed (on a course of action); resolved (to); determined (to)
(slang)
dishonest; corrupt
(of goods) stolen
crazy; mad
(brit, offensive) h-m-s-xual
noun
personal inclination, propensity, or apt-tude
capacity of endurance (esp in the phrase to the top of one’s bent)
(civil engineering) a framework placed across a structure to stiffen it
noun
short for bent gr-ss
a stalk of bent gr-ss
(archaic) any stiff gr-ss or sedge
(scot & northern english, dialect) heath or moorland
n.
adj.
intoxicated, either from alcohol or narcotics (1830s+)
having very little money: i’m not quite broke, but quite bent (1940s+)
eccentric; odd; cracked, wacky (1940s+)
h-m-s-xual (1930+)
s-xually aberrant; kinky: charley got bent bad over women. he was kinky when it came to ladies (1930+)
dishonest; shady; crooked: look a little bent, look like you were up for a little wh-r-mongering and black-marketing and smuggling (1900s+)
stolen, said esp of a car (1900s+ underworld)
angry; upset; bent out of shape (1970s+ air force)
also, bent upon. determined, resolved, as in jamie is bent on winning the math prize. this phrase, first recorded in 1762, always uses the past participle of the verb bend in the sense of “tend toward.”
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wood steamed and bent for use in furniture. an article of furniture made of bentwood. of or relating to furniture made princ-p-lly of pieces of wood of circular or oval section, steamed, bent, and screwed together: a bentwood rocking chair. historical examples the slave of silence fred m. white the slave of silence fred m. […]
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of or relating to a benthos. of or relating to a benthon. historical examples whales, dolphins, and porpoises of the western north atlantic stephen leatherwood benthic (běn’thĭk) relating to the bottom of a sea or lake or to the organisms that live there.
- Benthamism
the utilitarian philosophy of jeremy bentham. historical examples the life of sir james fitzjames stephen, bart., k.c.s.i. sir leslie stephen a short history of english liberalism walter lyon blease a short history of english liberalism walter lyon blease a short history of english liberalism walter lyon blease tradition john francis arundell recent developments in european […]
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william henry cavendish, duke of portland, 1738–1809, british statesman: prime minister 1783; 1807–09. historical examples red rose and tiger lily l. t. meade the story of my life, volumes 4-6 augustus j. c. hare the history of england from the accession of james ii. thomas babington macaulay the history of england in three volumes, vol.iii. […]