Bend.
Synonyms:
| bias, | curve, | diverge, | mold, | submit, | twist, |
| bow, | deflect, | incline, | persuade, | turn, | warp, |
| crook, | deviate, | influence, | stoop, | twine, | yield. |
In some cases a thing is spoken of as bent where the parts make an angle; but oftener to bend is understood to be to draw to or through a curve; as, to bend a bow. To submit or yield is to bend the mind humbly to another's wishes. To incline or influence is to bend another's wishes toward our own; to persuade is to draw them quite over. To warp is to bend silently through the whole fiber, as a board in the sun. To crook is to bend irregularly, as a crooked stick. Deflect, deviate, and diverge are said of any turning away; deviate commonly of a slight and gradual movement, diverge of a more sharp and decided one. To bias is to cut across the texture, or incline to one side; in figurative use always with an unfavorable import. Mold is a stronger work than bend; we may bend by a superior force that which still resists the constraint; as, a bent bow; we mold something plastic entirely to some desired form.