bentwood

American  

[bent-wood] / ˈbɛntˌwʊd /

noun

1. wood steamed and bent for use in furniture.

2. an article of furniture made of bentwood.

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adjective

1. of or relating to furniture made principally of pieces of wood of circular or oval section, steamed, bent, and screwed together.

   a bentwood rocking chair.

bentwood British  

/ ˈbɛntˌwʊd /

noun

1. 1. wood bent in moulds after being heated by steaming, used mainly for furniture

   2. ( as modifier )

      a bentwood chair

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Etymology

Origin of bentwood

First recorded in 1860–65; bent ¹ + wood ¹

Example Sentences

By merging then and now, it plunges visitors into a milieu they may know only through a Shaker bentwood box, and it signals that this exhibition aims to explore the relevance of Shaker ideas today.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026

I ended up selling our beloved caned bentwood chairs because they just weren't comfortable to sit in for a long time.

From Salon • Aug. 3, 2022

In the more than 150 years since, some 50 million Thonet bentwood chairs have been produced.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 27, 2021

Haida artist and weaver Evelyn Vanderhoop remembered when Holm sought instruction in the details of how spruce roots were gathered and prepared to seam the edge of a bentwood box.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 24, 2020

At the bottom of the stairs there’s a hat-and-umbrella stand, the bentwood kind, long rounded rungs of wood curving gently up into hooks shaped like the opening fronds of a fern.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood