bend
/bɛnd/verb, noun
bend is spelled B-E-N-D: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,778th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, bend means “To cause (something) to change its shape into a curve, by physical force, chemical action, or any other means” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in bend?
| Letters | 4: B-E-N-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 13 times per million words; the 5,778th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is bend?
Bend appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,778th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bend?
- /bɛnd/
- /bɪnd/
Bend has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-bend.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of bend
- bends present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- bending participle, present
- bent participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bend mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
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.
- 2
To become curved.
Look at the trees bending in the wind.
- 3
To cause to change direction.
- 4
To change direction.
The road bends to the right.
- 5
To be inclined; to direct itself.
- 6
To stoop.
He bent down to pick up the pieces.
- 7
To bow in prayer, or in token of submission.
- 8
To force to submit.
They bent me to their will.
noun
- 1
A curve.
There's a sharp bend in the road ahead.
- 2
Any of the various knots which join the ends of two lines.
- 3
A severe condition caused by excessively quick decompression, causing bubbles of nitrogen to form in the blood; decompression sickness.
A diver who stays deep for too long must ascend very slowly in order to prevent the bends.
- 4
One of the honourable ordinaries formed by two diagonal lines drawn from the dexter chief to the sinister base; it generally occupies a fifth part of the shield if uncharged, but if charged one third.
- 5
obsoleteTurn; purpose; inclination; ends.
- 6
In the leather trade, the best quality of sole leather; a butt; sometimes, half a butt cut lengthwise.
- 7
Hard, indurated clay; bind.
- 8
The thickest and strongest planks in a ship's sides, more generally called wales, which have the beams, knees, and futtocks bolted to them.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bend in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | courber, tordre , se courber, se tordre , tourner , se baisser |
| German | beugen , biegen, durchbiegen , Kurve, Biegung , Schrägbalken |
| Portuguese | dobrar, curvar , dobrar-se, curvar-se , virar , curva |
| Spanish | cimbrar, cimbrear, escarzar, cimblar, doblegar, redoblegar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bend come from?
From Middle English benden, from Old English bendan (“to bind or bend (a bow), fetter, restrain”), from Proto-West Germanic *bandijan, from Proto-Germanic *bandijaną (“to bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to bind, tie”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).