(bend) v. bent (Archaic bend·ed), bend·ing v.t.
1. To cause to take the form of a curve; crook; bow.
2. To direct or turn, as one's course, in a certain direction; deflect.
3. To subdue; cause to yield, as to one's will.
4. To apply closely; concentrate, as the mind.
5. Naut. To tie; make fast, as a rope; place in position, as a sail.
6. Archaic To strain; make tense: with up.
—v.i.
7. To assume the form of a bow.
8. To take a certain direction.
9. To bow in submission or respect; yield; conform.
10. To apply one's energies: with to.
—noun
1. A curve or crook.
2. An act of bending or bowing.
3. A loop or knot by which a rope is fastened to any object.
4. A wale or rib.
5. Scot. A deep draft. [OE bendan] Synonyms (verb): bias, crook, curve, deflect, deviate, diverge, incline, influence, mold, persuade, stoop, submit, turn, twine, twist, warp, yield. In some cases a thing is spoken of as bent where the parts make an angle; but oftener to bend is understood to be to draw to or through a curve; as, to bend a bow. To submit or yield is to bend or surrender to another's wishes. To incline or influence is to bend another's wishes toward our own; to persuade is to draw them quite over. To warp is to bend slightly through the whole fiber, as a board in the sun. To crook is to bend, turn, or twist irregularly. Deflect, deviate, and diverge are said of any turning away from a direct line; deviate commonly of a slight and gradual movement, diverge of a more sharp and decided one. To bias is to influence feeling, opinion, or action in the direction of some prevailing (often unconscious) tendency; personal enmity against the accused will bias a witness or a juror so as to distort his view of the facts or motives involved in the case. Mold is a stronger word than bend; we may bend by a superior force that which resists the constraint; as, bend a bow; we mold something plastic entirely and permanently to some desired form. See TWIST.

(bend) noun
1. Her. A band drawn diagonally across the shield from dexter chief to sinister base.
2. In the leather trade, a butt cut in two. [OE bend strap; infl. in meaning by OF bende strip, band]
BENDS
a. A bend.
b. A bend cottised.
c. A bend sinister.