bend the rules

bend the rules verb: to do something that is not normally allowed but is also not explicitly prohibited.

Verb

bend the rules (third-person singular simple present bends the rules, present participle bending the rules, simple past and past participle bent the rules)

To do something that is not normally allowed but is also not explicitly prohibited.
- Such a mechanism could preserve individuals with mainly prosocial inclinations by enabling them to bend the rules in minor ways without suffering from guilt and without losing out in competition with free-riders.2008, Robert A. Hinde, Bending the Rules: The Flexibility of Absolutes in Modern Life, →ISBN
Synonyms:

stretch the rules

ನಿಯಮವನ್ನು ತಿರಿಚು, ಕಟ್ಟಳೆ ಮುರಿ

third-person singular present	bends the rules
present participle	bending the rules
past participle	bent the rules
past	bent the rules

A metaphor where, instead of breaking the rules, the rules are only being "bent", lessening the effect.

What does bend the rules mean?: Bend the rules means to do something that is not normally allowed but is also not explicitly prohibited.
What is bend the rules in Kannada?: Bend the rules in Kannada is ನಿಯಮವನ್ನು ತಿರಿಚು, ಕಟ್ಟಳೆ ಮುರಿ. See Bend the rules meaning in Kannada.
What part of speech is bend the rules?: Bend the rules is a verb.
What is the past tense of bend the rules?: The past tense of bend the rules is bent the rules.

Adapted from Wiktionary: bend the rules (page history and authors); bend the rules (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “bend the rules.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bend_the_rules. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.