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Curved in an opposite or uncommon direction; bent back; as, a bird with a recurved bill; flowers with recurved petals.

Having the beak bent upwards.

Bent backward or outward; reflexed.

Bent backward or outward.

Bent backward angularly, as if half-broken; as, a refracted stem or leaf.

y or business; as, a retired officer; a retired physician. Retired flank (Fort.), a flank bent inward toward the rear of the work. -- Retired list (Mil. & Naval), a list of officers, who, by reason of advanced age or other disability, are relieved from active service, but still receive a specified amount of pay from t…

Reflexed; bent or turned abruptly backward.

Bent backward or downward. -- Re*trorse"ly, adv.

A turning or bending backward; also, the state of being turned or bent backward; displacement backwards; as, retroversion of the uterus.

Turned back; reversed. Specifically: (Her.) Bent or curved twice, in opposite directions, or in the form of an S.

The act of calling back, or the state of being recalled; recall. One that saw the people bent for the revocation of Calvin, gave him notice of their affection. Hooker.

A long, narrow strip of timber bent and bolted longitudinally to the ribs of a vessel, to hold them in position, and give rigidity to the framework. Rib-band lines, oblique longitudinal sectionss of the hull of a vessel. Knight.

Rich merchants." Chaucer. The rich [person] hath many friends. Prov. xiv. 20. As a thief, bent to unhoard the cash Of some rich burgher. Milton.

Bent on plunder. [Obs.] Chapman.

l delivery of gases by an automatic valvular connection with the outer air; especially, a bent funnel tube with bulbs for adding those reagents which produce unpleasant fumes or violent effervescence. -- Safety valve, a valve which is held shut by a spring or weight and opens automatically to permit the escape of stea…

g, curving blade, with a sharp edge, made fast to a long handle, called a snath, which is bent into a form convenient for use. The sharp-edged scythe shears up the spiring grass. Dryden. The scythe of Time mows down. Milton.

Half bent.

est; to reserve. -- To set a saw, to bend each tooth a little, every alternate one being bent to one side, and the intermediate ones to the other side, so that the opening made by the saw may be a little wider than the thickness of the back, to prevent the saw from sticking. -- To set aside. (a) To leave out of accou…

fusedly; a slovenly, dragging motion. The unguided agitation and rude shuffles of matter. Bentley.

n at the side, as sword, bayonet, pistols, etc. -- Side ax, an ax of which the handle is bent to one side. -- Side-bar rule (Eng. Law.), a rule authorized by the courts to be granted by their officers as a matter of course, without formal application being made to them in open court; -- so called because anciently mo…