Word.ws English Dictionary

bending

/ˈbɛndɪŋ/

bending is the present participle and gerund of bend.

Noun

bending (plural bendings)

  1. A motion or action that bends.
    • a bending of the knees
  2. An instance of something being adapted or distorted.
    • bendings of the rules

Meaning of bend

Verb

bend (third-person singular simple present bends, present participle bending, simple past and past participle bent or (archaic) bended)

  1. (transitive) To cause (something) to change its shape into a curve, by physical force, chemical action, or any other means.
    • If you bend the pipe too far, it will break.
    Synonyms:
    flex
  2. (intransitive) To become curved.
    • Look at the trees bending in the wind.
    Synonyms:
    flex
  3. (transitive) To cause to change direction.
    • Bend thine ear to supplication.1667, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
  4. (intransitive) To change direction.
    • The road bends to the right.
  5. (intransitive) To be inclined; to direct itself.
    • to whom our vows and wishes bend1634, John Milton, “Arcades”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC
  6. (intransitive, usually) To stoop.
    • He bent down to pick up the pieces.

See all 32 meanings of bend

Adjective

bending (comparative more bending, superlative most bending)

  1. Capable of being bent without breaking; able to be turned or twisted without breaking.
    Synonyms:
    flexible

Proper noun capitalized: Bending

Bending

  1. A surname.

Synonyms of bending

Antonyms

Forms of bending

Noun
pluralbendings
Adjective
comparativemore bending
superlativemost bending

Words formed from bending

Phrases with bending

3 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about bending

What does bending mean?
Bending means a motion or action that bends.
What is bending the present participle and gerund of?
Bending is the present participle and gerund of bend.
What part of speech is bending?
Bending can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce bending?
Bending is pronounced /ˈbɛndɪŋ/.
What is the plural of bending?
The plural of bending is bendings.

Words near bending in the dictionary

  1. bendiest
  2. Bendigo
  3. Bendigonian
  4. bendin'
  5. bendiness
  6. bending
  7. bending down
  8. bending it like Beckham
  9. bending one off
  10. bending one's elbow
  11. bending over

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bending (page history and authors); Bending (page history and authors); bend (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bending.wav.

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