bend

Something once straight but then changed in the form of an angle is said to be bent. The word "bend" is often used as a verb:

• She’s bending her arms and legs.
• Her arms and legs are bent. ("Bent" is the adjective form of the word "bend.")
• Can you bend at your waist and touch your toes?
• If your finger bends back too far it might break.
• I bent a couple of nails as I was nailing them into a piece of wood.

The nail in the middle is bent.

When the adjective "bent" is used, it usually means that something is disfigured or broken:

crowbar

• The ends of a crowbar are bent.
• The bumper on Sheila’s car looks like it’s a little bent.
• Ted needs new glasses because the frame for the pair of glasses he has now is bent.

A popular expression in the United States is "bent out of shape." It means that a person is upset or mad about something:

• Why is she so bent out of shape?
• Don’t get all bent out of shape.
• Ahmed got bent out of shape when someone broke the driver’s side mirror on his car.

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April 29, 2013