Bending

How to spell bending

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce bending

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does bending mean?

1. verbCurving, flexing, or forcing something out of a straight line or rigid shape.

Bending in a sentence

• The gymnast kept bending her spine into a smooth arch.

• The strong wind was bending the young trees almost to the ground.

Where does bending come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is the present participle of the verb 'bend', which traces back to the Old English 'bendan', meaning 'to constrain with a string, to bring a bow into tension'. That sense came from the practice of stringing a bow: the archer literally 'bent' the wood by binding it with a cord, and the same root gave us the noun 'bond' and the verb 'bind'. Over time the meaning broadened from drawing a bow to curving or flexing anything, and the older idea of binding faded into the background. The Germanic family behind it shares the notion of fastening and shaping, which is why 'bend', 'bond', and 'band' all feel related. The spelling is straightforward, simply adding -ing to the base, with no doubled consonant because the word ends in a single consonant after two written vowel letters.

How the word is built

• bend (to curve or flex)
• -ing (present participle/gerund suffix)