Bends

How to spell bends

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce bends

What does bends mean?

1. nounCurves or turns in a road, river, or other line.
2. verbForces something into a curved or angled shape (third-person singular of bend).
3. nounDecompression sickness suffered by divers who surface too quickly, usually written as 'the bends'.

Bends in a sentence

• noun

  The river has several sharp bends before it reaches the sea.

• verb

  She bends the copper wire into a neat loop.

• noun

  Divers who rise too fast can suffer the bends as nitrogen forms bubbles in the blood.

• noun

  Drivers slow down for the tight bends on the mountain pass.

• verb

  The gymnast bends backward until her hands touch the floor.

• noun

  The crew kept a decompression chamber on board in case anyone got the bends.

Where does bends come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the plural and third-person form of 'bend', which traces back to the Old English verb 'bendan', meaning to constrain, to bind, or to draw a bow tight. The earliest sense was tied to bows and bowstrings: to 'bend' a bow was literally to bind it under tension so it could be drawn. That same root is related to 'band' and 'bond', words that all share the idea of binding something together. Over the centuries the meaning broadened from straining a bow to curving or flexing any object, and from there to the noun sense of a curve in a road or river. The diving illness called 'the bends' is a much later, informal use from the late nineteenth century, named for the doubled-over posture sufferers adopted when struck by joint pain.

How the word is built

• bend (Old English bendan: to bend or flex)
• -s (plural noun / third-person singular verb ending)