overbending

Verb

overbend (third-person singular simple present overbends, present participle overbending, simple past and past participle overbent)

1. To bend over.
   • The heavens grow wonderful with purple hue, Soft, rich and deep, peace giving to mine eyes. They overbend the square , Above whose entrance fair The arch , by the Republic set , doth rise In high triumphal state;1913, Hanford Chase Judson, Songs Toward the Sunlight, page 19
2. To bend to excess; to bend farther than the desired or intended amount.
   • If you sharpen a razor too much you will notch the edge, and if you overbend the bow, at last 'twill break .1912, Hans Jakob Christoph von Grimmelshausen, The Adventurous Simplicissimus, page 277
3. To increase the tension on a string at the fret, causing the note to sharpen.
   • Try not to overbend that B flat.1962, Artie Traum, Arti Funaro, The Legends of Rock Guitar
4. To overblow or overdraw in order to create a note that is sharper; to move the point in the mouth where airflow is narrowest forward.
   • Some mid-priced models respond faborably to overbending, but they work much better with reed adjustment.2009, Winslow Yerxa, Harmonica For Dummies, page 190

See all 9 meanings of overbend