I. bent 1 /bent/ BrE AmE
the past tense and past participle of ↑ bend
II. bent 2 BrE AmE adjective
1 . no longer straight:
a bent nail
Stand with your knees slightly bent.
He breathed in deeply, bent double in pain (=with the top part of your body leaning forward towards your legs) .
a bent old man (=not standing straight)
2 . bent on something completely determined to do something, especially something bad:
a crowd of hooligans bent on violence
be bent on doing something
They seemed bent on destroying his career.
⇨ ↑ hell-bent
3 . British English informal financially dishonest and willing to use your official position unfairly OPP honest :
a bent policeman
4 . British English informal not polite an insulting word meaning ↑ homosexual
5 . bent out of shape American English spoken very angry or upset
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ bent no longer straight:
The knife was bent in the middle.
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a bent nail
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She kept her head bent so that Josie couldn't see her face.
▪ twisted having a bent shape that turns around - used especially when something has been damaged or is old and has lost its natural straight shape:
a twisted tree trunk
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All that was left was a pile of twisted metal.
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His knee was all twisted.
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a twisted ankle
▪ curved bent in the shape of part of a circle, especially naturally or because something has been made that way:
The bird has a long curved bill.
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a curved dagger
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The plane's wings are curved.
▪ warped bent or twisted into the wrong shape because of heat or dryness:
warped floorboards
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The windows are warped and won't open anymore.
▪ crooked not straight, but bending sharply in one or more places, especially in a way that looks different from normal or does not look right - often used about a part of someone's body, a path, or a picture:
He had crooked teeth.
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her crooked nose and long thin face
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The boys at school used to make fun of me because I have a crooked spine.
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The picture looks crooked - can you move it up on the left?
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a crooked path
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the narrow crooked streets of the financial district
▪ wavy having smooth bends in it, usually in a regular pattern – used about hair or lines:
her brown wavy hair
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The pictures were separated by a thin wavy line.
III. bent 3 BrE AmE noun [singular]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: bent 'curve' (16-19 centuries) , from ⇨ ↑ bend 1 ]
formal special natural skill or interest in a particular area
musical/artistic/literary etc bent
readers of a more literary bent