bent

[bent]

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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.

morally crooked; corrupt.
stolen: bent merchandise.
homosexual.

noun

direction taken, as by one's interests; inclination: a bent for painting.

capacity of endurance: to work at the top of one's bent.

Civil Engineering. a transverse frame, as of a bridge or an aqueduct, designed to support either vertical or horizontal loads.

Archaic. bent state or form; curvature.

Origin of bent

First recorded in 1525–35; orig. past participle of bend¹

Synonyms for bent

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1. bowed, flexed. 2. fixed. 4. tendency, propensity, proclivity, predilection, penchant, partiality, leaning, bias.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bent on

bound, determined, fixed, intent

British Dictionary definitions for bent on

bent

adjective

not straight; curved

(foll by on) fixed (on a course of action); resolved (to); determined (to)

slang

dishonest; corrupt
(of goods) stolen
crazy; mad
British offensivehomosexual

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

bent

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

Word Origin and History for bent on

bent

n.1

"mental inclination," 1570s, probably from earlier literal sense "condition of being deflected or turned" (1530s), from bent (adj.) "not straight" (q.v.).

bent

n.2

"stiff grass," Old English beonet, from West Germanic *binut- "rush, marsh grass" (cf. Old Saxon binet, Old High German binuz, German Binse "rush, reed"), of unknown origin. An obsolete word, but surviving in place names (cf. Bentley, from Old English Beonet-leah; Bentham).

bent

adj.

"not straight," late 14c. (earlier ibent, c.1300, from past participle of bend (v.). Meaning "turned or inclined in some direction" is from 1530s, probably as a translation of Latin inclinatio. Meaning "directed in a course" is from 1690s. Figurative phrase bent out of shape "extremely upset" is 1960s U.S. Air Force and college student slang.

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.”