bent

a. & p. p. 1. Changed by pressure so as to be no longer straight; crooked; as, a bent pin; a bent lever. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Strongly inclined toward something, so as to be resolved, determined, set, etc.; -- said of the mind, character, disposition, desires, etc., and used with on; as, to be bent on going to college; he is bent on mischief. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Bend, n. & v. ] 1. The state of being curved, crooked, or inclined from a straight line; flexure; curvity; as, the bent of a bow. [ Obs. ] Wilkins. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A declivity or slope, as of a hill. [ R. ] Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A leaning or bias; proclivity; tendency of mind; inclination; disposition; purpose; aim. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

With a native bent did good pursue. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Particular direction or tendency; flexion; course. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bents and turns of the matter. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Carp.) A transverse frame of a framed structure. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Tension; force of acting; energy; impetus. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The full bent and stress of the soul. Norris. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Predilection; turn. Bent, Bias, Inclination, Prepossession. These words agree in describing a permanent influence upon the mind which tends to decide its actions. Bent denotes a fixed tendency of the mind in a given direction. It is the widest of these terms, and applies to the will, the intellect, and the affections, taken conjointly; as, the whole bent of his character was toward evil practices. Bias is literally a weight fixed on one side of a ball used in bowling, and causing it to swerve from a straight course. Used figuratively, bias applies particularly to the judgment, and denotes something which acts with a permanent force on the character through that faculty; as, the bias of early education, early habits, etc. Inclination is an excited state of desire or appetency; as, a strong inclination to the study of the law. Prepossession is a mingled state of feeling and opinion in respect to some person or subject, which has laid hold of and occupied the mind previous to inquiry. The word is commonly used in a good sense, an unfavorable impression of this kind being denominated a prejudice. “Strong minds will be strongly bent, and usually labor under a strong bias; but there is no mind so weak and powerless as not to have its inclinations, and none so guarded as to be without its prepossessions.” Crabb. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. beonet; akin to OHG. pinuz, G. binse, rush, bent grass; of unknown origin. ] 1. A reedlike grass; a stalk of stiff, coarse grass. [ 1913 Webster ]

His spear a bent, both stiff and strong. Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A grass of the genus Agrostis, esp. Agrostis vulgaris, or redtop. The name is also used of many other grasses, esp. in America. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Any neglected field or broken ground; a common; a moor. [ Obs. ] Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bowmen bickered upon the bent. Chevy Chase. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. grass for pastures and lawns esp bowling and putting greens.
Syn. -- bent, bent grass. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

(Bot.) Same as Bent, a kind of grass. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_; the depth of the sea. ] Relating to the deepest zone or region of the ocean. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to Bentham or Benthamism. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. That phase of the doctrine of utilitarianism taught by Jeremy Bentham; the doctrine that the morality of actions is estimated and determined by their utility; also, the theory that the sensibility to pleasure and the recoil from pain are the only motives which influence human desires and actions, and that these are the sufficient explanation of ethical and jural conceptions. [ 1913 Webster ]