bend
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To cause to change its shape into a curve, by physical force, chemical action, or any other means.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
behndIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɛnd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To cause (something) to change its shape into a curve, by physical force, chemical action, or any other means.
transitive
To cause to change direction.
Form a curve
intransitive
To become curved.
Turn from a straight course, fixed direction, or line of interest
intransitive
To be inclined; to direct itself.
noun
Movement that causes the formation of a curve
A circular segment of a curve
Any of the various knots which join the ends of two lines.
A ghost town and former railway community in central British Columbia, Canada. Named after a 90-degree curve in the railway line.
In the leather trade, the best quality of sole leather; a butt; sometimes, half a butt cut lengthwise.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To cause (something) to change its shape into a curve, by physical force, chemical action, or any other means.
Used this way, bend is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use bend
- “The stick does not bend.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Pain resulting from rapid change in pressure.
Movement that causes the formation of a curve.
A tool for bending.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Diagonal line traversing a shield from the upper right corner to the lower left.
Try very hard to please someone.
A mark of bastardy.
A triangular area in southwestern Texas on the Mexican border.
A large national park in Texas featuring mountains and desert and canyons and wildlife.
A curve or bend in the road that you cannot see around as you are driving.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.