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definitions

bent

1
[ bent ]
/ bɛnt /
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bent ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

curved; crooked: a bent bow; a bent stick.
determined; set; resolved (usually followed by on): to be bent on buying a new car.
Chiefly British Slang.
  1. morally crooked; corrupt.
  2. stolen: bent merchandise.
  3. homosexual.

noun

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RELATED WORDS

bound, determined, fixed, intent

Nearby words

  1. benoît de sainte-maure,
  2. bensenville,
  3. benson,
  4. benson's disease,
  5. bensulide,
  6. bent grass,
  7. bent on,
  8. bent out of shape,
  9. bentham,
  10. bentham, jeremy

Origin of bent

1
First recorded in 1525–35; orig. past participle of bend1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for bent on (1 of 2)

bent

1
/ (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 on (2 of 2)

bent

2
/ (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

Idioms and Phrases with bent on

bent on

Also, bent upon. Determined, resolved, as in Jamie is bent on winning the math prize. This phrase, first recorded in 1762, always uses the past participle of the verb bend in the sense of “tend toward.”

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.