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A rope going over a yardarm, used to bend a tripping line to, in sending down topgallant and royal yards in vessels of war; also, the short line supporting the heel of the sprit in a small boat.

An upward bend in a piece of timber; the sheer of a vessel.

soothe one's sorrows. Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak. Congreve. Though the sound of Fame May for a moment soothe, it can not slake The fever of vain longing. Byron.

A pure or disembodied spirit. That to his only Son . . . every soul in heaven Shall bend the knee. Milton.

To shape, as malleable sheet metal, into a hollow form, by bending or buckling it by pressing against it with a smooth hand tool or roller while the metal revolves, as in a lathe. To spin a yarn (Naut.), to tell a story, esp. a long or fabulous tale. -- To spin hay (Mil.), to twist it into ropes for convenient carriag…

To bend from a straight direction or plane surface; to become warped; as, a piece of timber, or a plank, sometimes springs in seasoning.

Having one or more spurs on the bend of the wings. Spur-winged goose (Zoöl.), any one of several species of long-legged African geese of the genus Plectropterus and allied genera, having a strong spur on the bend of the wing, as the Gambo goose (P. Gambensis) and the Egyptian, or Nile, goose (Alopochen Ægyptiaca). --…

To cut out, bend, or indent, as paper, sheet metal, etc., into various forms, by a blow or suddenly applied pressure with a stamp or die, etc.; to mint; to coin.

pictures the appearance of solid forms, as seen in nature. It combines in one, through a bending of the rays of light, two pictures, taken for the purpose from points of view a little way apart. It is furnished with two eyeglasses, and by refraction or reflection the pictures are superimposed, so as to appear as one t…

A plant from which layers are propagated by bending its branches into the soil. P. Henderson.

To bend the upper part of the body downward and forward; to bend or lean forward; to incline forward in standing or walking; to assume habitually a bent position.

To act upon, in any way, so as to cause change of form or volume, as forces on a beam to bend it.

Firm as a stub or stump; stiff; unbending; unyielding; persistent; hence, unreasonably obstinate in will or opinion; not yielding to reason or persuasion; refractory; harsh; -- said of persons and things; as, stubborn wills; stubborn ore; a stubborn oak; as stubborn as a mule. "Bow, stubborn knees." Shak. "Stubborn att…

ut. iv. 47 (Rev. Ver.) Full hot and fast the Saxon rides, with rein of travel slack, And, bending o'ev his saddle, leaves the sunrise at his back. Whittier.

Bending to the humor of others; flattering; fawning; obsequious. Addison.

To cause to incline or swing to one side, or backward and forward; to bias; to turn; to bend; warp; as, reeds swayed by wind; judgment swayed by passion. As bowls run true by being made On purpose false, and to be swayed. Hudibras. Let not temporal and little advantages sway you against a more durable interest. Tillots…

Moving with a sweeping motion. The branches bend before their sweepy away. Dryden.

To bend; to incline. "The battle swerved." Milton.

same side in all directions; -- said of surfaces which in all directions around any point bend away from a tangent plane toward the same side, as the surface of a sphere; -- opposed to anticlastic. Sir W. Thomson.

and allows the escape of any liquid that may be poured in, when it reaches as high as the bend of the siphon, which is just below the level of the mouth of the figure in the cup.