Definitions

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

  • noun Plural form of bend.
  • noun diving A condition of bubbles in the blood which sometimes occurs during ascent.
  • noun nautical The thickest and strongest planks in a wooden ship's side, wales.
  • verb Third-person singular simple present indicative form of bend.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun pain resulting from rapid change in pressure

Etymologies

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Examples

  • It wooshed past the house when most things go by at a snail's pace because the visibility around the blind bends is nil and there is nowhere to go but head on.

    A strange day 2007

  • It wooshed past the house when most things go by at a snail's pace because the visibility around the blind bends is nil and there is nowhere to go but head on.

    50 entries from June 2007 2007

  • One of my many lucrative pre-bends is as a Serial Killer Parole Judge for Ontario.

    Archive 2007-06-01 2007

  • It wooshed past the house when most things go by at a snail's pace because the visibility around the blind bends is nil and there is nowhere to go but head on.

    A strange day 2007

  • A flexible spring bends from the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn to reveal the part of the Earth lit by the Sun and to indicate the time and place of sunrise and sunset.

    Boing Boing 2007

  • We are taken on a wild ride -- for a ride, we may occasionally feel -- that executes its hairpin bends with breathtaking lurches.

    Shadow of the Wind: Summary and book reviews of Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. 2004

  • The slow water on the far side of stream bends is a magnet for ducks, but these hard turns present a challenge for gunners faced with difficult shooting angles and a tipsy seat.

    Down the River for Ducks 2003

  • He looked back, then surged ahead and sprinted up the 21 hairpin bends to the summit, claiming his first stage victory and beating Ullrich by a whopping 1 minute, 59 seconds.

    USATODAY.com - Armstrong completes third straight win 2001

  • One way to find unmarked bends is to put your boat over a creek channel where it enters the lake and follow it downstream, fishing as you go.

    Bass in the Bends 1999

  • I don't see how it could have given any one the 'bends' -- much less a fellow like Traynor.

    The Treasure-Train 1908

Comments

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  • A type of decompression sickness, caused by gases (primarily nitrogen) coming out of solution in the body following a rapid decrease in pressure. Also known as caisson disease: a famous early case was Washington Roebling, who developed the bends during work on the Brooklyn Bridge.

    Decompression sickness became known as "The Bends" because afflicted individuals characteristically arched their backs in a manner reminiscent of a then popular women's fashion called the Grecian Bend.

    December 20, 2007

  • Fascinating. I always wondered how that phrase came to refer to a decompression sickness.

    December 20, 2007

  • My baby's got the bends

    December 20, 2007

  • Bend it like Beckham...

    December 21, 2007