I. ˈbent noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, grassy place, bent grass, from Old English beonot- (in place names); akin to Old High German binuz rush
1.
a. : unenclosed pastureland : field , moor
curlews crying over the snow-patched bent — John Buchan
b. archaic : hillside , slope
2.
a.
(1) : a reed, rush, or reedlike grass
a coastline grown over with sedge and bent
(2) : a stalk of stiff coarse grass
his spear a bent , both stiff and strong — Michael Drayton
b. : a beach grass ( Ammophila arenaria )
c. : dogstail 1
d. or bent grass : any grass of the genus Agrostis ; especially : any of several important pasture and lawn grasses that are typically perennial, rhizomatous, resistant to adverse conditions, and noted for their fine velvety or wiry herbage — see creeping bent
II. adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from past participle of benden to bend — more at bend
1.
a. : changed by bending or being bent so as to be no longer in an original straight, level, or even condition
a boy fishing with a bent pin
a bent automobile fender
a bent head and sloping shoulders
b. : braced by being bent
a bent bow
c. : curved
bent glass
2.
a. : strongly inclined : resolved, determined — used with on or upon
a country bent upon world domination
b. : actively engaged or occupied — used with on or upon
housewives bent on spring cleaning
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: from bend, v., after such pairs as English descend: descent
1. obsolete : something curved or crooked : bend
2.
a. : particular inclination or tendency : strong interest conducive to bias : bias
the bent of his mind … was at all times much to metaphysical theology — William Wordsworth
b. : a special and often inherent inclination, disposition, or capacity ; especially : one facilitating ready and easy learning or mastery
a decided bent for language
3. archaic : a curved state or form : curvature
4. : capacity of endurance
they fool me to the top of my bent — Shakespeare
5. : a framework transverse to the length of a structure (as a trestle, bridge, or long shed) usually designed to carry lateral as well as vertical loads
Synonyms: see gift
IV. adjective
slang
1. : different from what is normal or usual: as
a. chiefly Britain : dishonest : corrupt
a basically straight guy making it in an unrepentantly bent world — Times Literary Supplement
b. : eccentric : crazy
she was so bent that she's probably a woman who ought to be locked up somewhere — Robert Redford
c. : homosexual
2. : extremely upset or angry — often used in the phrase bent out of shape