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bent

1
[ bent ]
/ bɛnt /
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adjective
noun
verb
the simple past tense and past participle of bend1.
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Idioms about bent

    bent (out of shape), Informal. angry or upset: I like that you can share your thoughts on stuff and not get bent out of shape if I disagree.I don’t know why you’re so bent—I’m just a couple minutes late.Also bent up .

Origin of bent

1
First recorded in 1350–1400 for the adjective and past tense; past participle of bend1

Other definitions for bent (2 of 2)

bent2
[ bent ]
/ bɛnt /

noun
a stalk of bent grass.
Scot., North England. (formerly) any stiff grass or sedge.
British Dialect. a moor; heath; tract of uncultivated, grassy land, used as a pasture or hunting preserve.

Origin of bent

2
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English; earlier benet-, bunet- (in compounds), Old English beonet-, beonot- (in placenames); cognate with Old High German binuz (compare German Binse ) “the rush plant”
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bent in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bent (1 of 2)

bent1
/ (bɛnt) /

adjective
not straight; curved
(foll by on) fixed (on a course of action); resolved (to); determined (to)
slang
  1. dishonest; corrupt
  2. (of goods) stolen
  3. crazy; mad
  4. British offensive homosexual
noun
personal inclination, propensity, or aptitude
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

British Dictionary definitions for bent (2 of 2)

bent2
/ (bɛnt) /

noun
short for bent grass
a stalk of bent grass
archaic any stiff grass or sedge
Scot and Northern English dialect heath or moorland

Word Origin for bent

Old English bionot; related to Old Saxon binet, Old High German binuz rush
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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