BEND


Meaning of BEND in English

I. bend 1 S3 W3 /bend/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle bent /bent/)

[ Language: Old English ; Origin: bendan ]

1 . [intransitive and transitive] to move part of your body so that it is not straight or so that you are not upright:

Lee bent and kissed her.

She bent her head.

Bend your knees, but keep your back straight.

bend over

Emma bent over to pick up the coins.

bend down

I bent down to lift the box off the floor.

bend towards/across etc

He bent towards me and whispered in my ear.

2 . [transitive] to push or press something so that it is no longer flat or straight:

You need a special tool to bend the steel.

3 . [intransitive] to become curved and no longer flat or straight:

Several branches started bending towards the ground.

4 . [intransitive] when a road bends, it changes direction to form a curve:

The road bends sharply to the left.

5 . bend the truth to say something that is not completely true

6 . bend over backwards (to do something) to try very hard to be helpful:

We bent over backwards to finish it on time.

7 . bend sb’s ear spoken to talk to someone, especially for a long time, about something that is worrying you

8 . on bended knee

a) trying very hard to persuade someone to do something:

He begged on bended knee for another chance.

b) in a kneeling position:

He went down on bended knee and asked her to marry him.

9 . bend your mind/efforts to something formal to give all your energy or attention to one activity, plan etc

10 . bend to sb’s will formal to do what someone else wants, especially when you do not want to

⇨ bend the rules at ↑ rule 1 (1)

II. bend 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]

1 . a curved part of something, especially a road or river:

The car came round the bend at a terrifying speed.

bend in

a sharp bend in the road

2 . an action in which you bend a part of your body:

We started the session with a few knee bends to warm up.

3 . drive somebody round the bend British English spoken to annoy someone:

His attitude drives me round the bend.

4 . be/go round the bend British English spoken to be or become crazy:

I sometimes feel I’m going round the bend looking after young children all day.

5 . the bends a painful and serious condition that ↑ diver s get if they come up from deep water too quickly

• • •

COLLOCATIONS

■ adjectives

▪ a sharp/tight bend (=a curve that changes direction suddenly)

That road sign means you are approaching a sharp bend.

▪ a hairpin bend (=a very sharp bend in which a road changes direction, usually on a mountain)

The road wound up the mountain in a series of hairpin bends.

▪ a slight/gentle/wide bend (=that changes direction slightly or gradually)

Ahead of us there was a wide bend in the river.

▪ a blind bend (=that you cannot see around when you are driving)

Never overtake another car on a blind bend.

▪ a left-hand/right-hand bend (=going towards the left or the right)

Take the turning just after the left-hand bend in the road.

■ verbs

▪ come around/round the bend

Suddenly a motorbike came around the bend at top speed.

▪ round the bend

He rounded the bend much too fast.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.