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To strain or move out of a straight line; to crook by straining; to make crooked; to curve; to make ready for use by drawing into a curve; as, to bend a bow; to bend the knee.

Changed by pressure so as to be no longer straight; crooked; as, a bent pin; a bent lever.

To cause to deviate from straightness; to bend; to inflect; to make crooked or curved. We bow things the contrary way, to make them come to their natural straightness. Milton. The whole nation bowed their necks to the worst kind of tyranny. Prescott.

Having crooked legs, esp. with the knees bent outward. Johnson.

A crooked leg. Jer. Taylor.

A shot, crooked timber, resembling a knee, used as a support.

Having a bunch on the back; crooked. "Bunch-backed toad." Shak.

te path; an obscure way; indirect means. God known, my son, By what bypaths, and indirect crooked ways, I met this crown. Shak.

Crooked. [Obs.]

A plant having long hard, crooked roots, the Ononis spinosa; -- called also rest-harrow. The Scandix Pecten-Veneris is also called cammock.

Flat; depressed; crooked; -- said only of the nose. [Obs.]

A large hook or crook, as for a pot over a fire; specif., an iron- headed golf club with a straight, narrow face and a long shaft.

ve; -- called also fret saw and keyhole saw. -- Compass timber (Shipbuilding), curved or crooked timber. -- Compass window (Arch.), a circular bay window or oriel window. It has two or more magnetic needles permanently attached to a card, which moves freely upon a pivot, and is read with reference to a mark on the bo…

The connecting crook of a harrow. [Prov. Eng.]

Crooked. [Obs.] "Corbe shoulder." Spenser.

A leguminous climbing plant of the genus Mucuna, having crooked pods covered with sharp hairs, which stick to the fingers, causing intolerable itching. The spiculæ are sometimes used in medicine as a mechanical vermifuge. [Written also couhage, cowage, and cowitch.]

skill or dexterity employed to effect purposes by deceit or shrewd devices. You have that crooked wisdom which is called craft. Hobbes. The chief priets and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. Mark xiv. 1.

Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage. So many turning cranks these have, so many crooks. Spenser.

A bar of iron with a beak, crook, or claw; a bar of iron used as a lever; a crowbar. Get me an iron crow, and bring it straight Unto my cell. Shak.

Crooked; bent. [Obs.] Crooked backs and crump shoulders. Jer. Taylor.