U-bend

British

noun

a U-shaped bend in a pipe or drain that traps water in the lower part of the U and prevents the escape of noxious fumes or vapours; trap

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

There is no way the water companies delivering that can now get around the U-bend and go backwards.

From BBC • Mar. 15, 2022

Many “adult” wipes carry the tag “flushable”, a description which means that they will likely get around the U-bend, but not that they will biodegrade in the sewer.

From The Guardian • Feb. 4, 2018

While we've moved on alphabetically from the S-bend to the U-bend, flushing toilets still deploy the same insight.

From BBC • Oct. 15, 2017

Their house is in the U-bend of a crescent, on the edge of a suburban housing estate, overlooking a wooded conservation area to the Pacific Ocean beyond.

From The Guardian • Aug. 21, 2015

They shot out into the main stream, where the U-bend channel joined the short-cut, and it looked miles wide to the exhausted puncher.

From Bar-20 Days by Mulford, Clarence Edward

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023