bent

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Bentgrass.
• noun The stiff stalk of various grasses.
• noun An area of grassland unbounded by hedges or fences.
• adjective Altered from an originally straight or even condition.
• adjective Determined to take a course of action.
• adjective Chiefly British Corrupt; venal.
• noun A tendency, disposition, or inclination.
• noun A transverse structural member or framework that is used for strengthening a bridge or trestle.

from The Century Dictionary.

• Curved; deflected; crooked: as, a bent stick.
• Determined; set.
• noun The articulated group of members forming a plane frame of a framed structure, such as a bridge-truss, a braced pier, or a building-frame. A bent of trestle would comprise all the members in one transverse plane, including the sill, cap, vertical and inclined posts, and transverse bracing-members.
• noun A cleavage-plate of slate whose sides are slightly curved, cut from gently folded beds.
• noun Any stiff or wiry grass, such as grows on commons or neglected ground.
• noun The culm or stalk of bent; a stalk of coarse withered grass; a dead stem of grass which has borne seed.
• noun A place covered with grass; a field; uninclosed pasture-land; a heath.
• In mining, said of a coal-seam which is difficult to work on account of the unequal distribution of the weight of the overlying strata.
• Bound in some direction or toward an aim; set; pointing toward something.
• noun . The state of being bent; curved form or position; flexure; curvature.
• noun A curved part; a crook or bend.
• noun Degree of flexure or curvature; tension; straining; utmost force or power: an archery expression, but used figuratively of mental disposition.
• noun Declivity; slope.
• noun Inclination; disposition; a leaning or bias of mind; propensity: as, the bent of the mind or will; the bent of a people toward an object.
• noun Direction taken; turn or winding.
• noun In carpentry, a segment or section of a framed building, as of a long barn or warehouse.
• noun A framed portion of a wooden scaffolding or trestlework, usually put together on the ground and then raised to its place.
• noun A large piece of timber.
• noun A cast, as of the eye; direction.
• noun Synonyms Bent, Propensity, Bias, Inclination, Tendency, Proneness, Disposition, all keep more or less of their original figurativeness. Bent is the general and natural state of the mind as disposed toward something; a decided and fixed turning of the mind toward a particular object or mode of action. Propensity is less deep than bent, less a matter of the whole nature, and is often applied to a strong appetency toward that which is evil. Bias has often the same meaning as bent, but tends specially to denote a sort of external and continued action upon the mind: as, “morality influences men's minds and gives a bias to all their actions,” Locke. Bias is often little more than prejudice. Inclination is a sort of bent; a leaning, more or less decided, in some direction. Tendency is a little more than inclination, stronger and more permanent. Proneness is by derivation a downward tendency, a strong natural inclination toward that which is in some degree evil: as, proneness to err, to self-justification, to vice; but it is also used in a good sense. Disposition is often a matter of character, with more of choice in it than in the others, but it is used with freedom in lighter senses; as, the disposition to work; the disposition of a plant to climb.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• imp. & p. p. of bend.
• adjective Changed by pressure so as to be no longer straight; crooked.
• adjective Strongly inclined toward something, so as to be resolved, determined, set, etc.; -- said of the mind, character, disposition, desires, etc., and used with on.
• noun A reedlike grass; a stalk of stiff, coarse grass.
• noun (Bot.) A grass of the genus Agrostis, esp. Agrostis vulgaris, or redtop. The name is also used of many other grasses, esp. in America.
• noun obsolete Any neglected field or broken ground; a common; a moor.
• noun obsolete The state of being curved, crooked, or inclined from a straight line; flexure; curvity.
• noun rare A declivity or slope, as of a hill.
• noun A leaning or bias; proclivity; tendency of mind; inclination; disposition; purpose; aim.
• noun Particular direction or tendency; flexion; course.
• noun (Carp.) A transverse frame of a framed structure.
• noun Archaic Tension; force of acting; energy; impetus.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun Any of various stiff or reedy grasses.
• noun A grassy area, grassland.
• verb Simple past tense and past participle of bend.
• adjective folded, dented
• adjective derogatory, colloquial, chiefly UK Homosexual.
• adjective Determined or insistent.
• adjective Of a person leading a life of crime.
• adjective slang, soccer inaccurate at shooting
• adjective colloquial Suffering from the bends