| 释义 |
▪ I. bend, n.1|bɛnd|
Forms: 1– bend; also 3 biend, 4 beend.
[Com. Teut., OE. bęnd str. fem. (pl. bęnda) = OS. bendi, OFris. bende, MDu. bende, Goth. bandi:—OTeut. *bandjâ-, f. band-, stem of bindan to bind; also in OE. str. masc. (pl. bęndas). This is the original English word, now superseded, exc. in nautical use, by the cognate band n.1, bond, from ON., the senses of which ran in ME. alongside of those of bend, so as to make it appear only another phonetic variant of those. The OE. pl. benda remained in ME. as bende in collective sense of ‘bonds, imprisonment.’]
†1. Anything with which one's body or limbs are bound; a band, bond, or fetter. pl. collective, Bonds, fetters, confinement, imprisonment. Obs.
c890K. ælfred Bæda iv. xxii. (Bosw.) Þa benda sumes ᵹehæftes. c1000Ags. Ps. cvi[i]. 13 Heora bendas towearp. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xi. 2 Ða Johannes on bendum [Hatton benden] ᵹehyrde Christes weoruc. c1175Moral Ode 180 in Lamb. Hom. 171 For lesen hi of bende. Ibid. 289 In þo loþe biende [Trin. MS. in þe loðe bende]. c1205Lay. 18459 Þe king heom lette binden mid irene bænde [1250 bendes]. c1300Beket 15 Oft in feteres and in othe[r] bende. c1400Gamelyn 457 To brynge me out of bendes. Ibid. 837 Gamelyn leet unfetere his brother out of beende.
†b. fig. The ‘fetters’ or ‘shackles’ of habit, etc.; custody, keeping; = band n.1 8.
971Blickl. Hom. 9 Þa wæs ᵹesended þæt goldhord..on þone bend þæs clænan innoðes. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 63 Ac þat..unbindeð þe bendes of wiðerfulnesse.
†c. A moral or spiritual bond or restraint; the bands or bonds of matrimony. = band n.1 9.
a1250Owl & Night. 1426 Thurh chirche bende. Ibid. 1470 Thah spusing bendes thuncheth sore. 1340Ayenb. 48 Þet ne habbeþ nenne bend ne of wodewehod ne of spoushod.
†d. ‘Confinement’ at child-birth: ‘Our Lady's Bands’: see band n.1 1 c.
1297R. Glouc. 379 Ȝyf God me wole grace sende Vorto make my chyrche gon, & bringe me of þys bende. c1330King of Tars 539 By the fourti wikes ende, Heo was delyvered out of beende, Thorw help of Marie mylde.
†2. A clamp or band (of iron, etc.) for strengthening a box, etc.; a connecting piece by which the parts of anything are bound together; = band n.1 4, 5. Obs.
a1225Ancr. R. 382 Ibunden mid iren..and mid brode þicke bendes. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §4 Somme plowes haue a bende of yron. 1596Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. 30 Huge great yron chests, and coffers strong, All bard with double bends.
3. Naut. A knot, used to unite one rope to another, or to something else; there are various kinds, as the cable bend, carrick bend, fisherman's bend, etc. (The only extant sense.)
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) Bend, the knot by which one rope is fastened to another. 1819Rees Cycl. s.v. Bends, For a carrick bend, lay the end of a rope, or hawser, across its standing part. 1829Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) I. 114 Taking a bend on the bight of the rope. 1833Marryat P. Simple xiv, He taught me a fisherman's bend, which he pronounced to be the king of all knots.
†4. Comb. bend-ful (obs.), a bandful, a bundle.
a1480Kyng & Hermit 169 in Hazl. E.P.P. 20 The frere he had bot barly stro, Two thake bendsfull without mo.
▪ II. bend, n.2|bɛnd|
Forms: 1 bend, 5–6 bende.
[Apparently originally English, as a sense of the prec. word: see the early quotations. But afterwards naturally identified with OF. bende (mod.Fr. bande): see band n.2; whence the later sense-development. Now used only in the Heraldic and technical senses 3, 4 (if 4 really belongs here).
The OF. bende, bande, corresponds to med.L. binda, benda, Lombard benda, It. benda, banda, Sp. and Pg. venda and banda; pointing to a Romanic adoption of OHG. bindâ, ‘band, fillet, tie, sash,’ and also of Gothic bandi or other equivalent of OE. bend, with similar sense.]
†1. A thin flat strip adapted to bind round.
†a. A riband, fillet, strap, band, used for ornament or as part of a dress; a sash, swaddling-band, hat-band, bandage; = band n.2 1–5. Obs. or ? dial.
c1000ælfric Gloss. in Wr-Wülcker Voc. 152 Diadema, bend aᵹimmed and ᵹesmiðed. Ibid. Nimbus, mid golde ᵹesiwud bend. c1205Lay. 24747 And mid æne bende of golde ælc hafde his hæfd biuonge. c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2517 Vche burne..a bauderyk schulde haue, A bende a belef hym aboute, of a bryȝt grene. c1450Crt. of Love 810 A bend of golde and silke. 1463in Bury Wills (1850) 41 My bende for an hat of blak sylk and silvir. Item to John Coote my bende of whit boon with smale bedys of grene. 1491Caxton Vitas Patr. (W. de W.) i. xlviii. (1495) 93* b/1 A lytyll bende, to swadle a lytyll chylde beynge in his cradle. 1513Douglas æneis ii. iii. (ii.) 138 About my heid ane gairland or a bend. 1552Huloet, Bende, fillet or kerchiefe. amiculum. 1601Holland Pliny II. 365 Bast dogs haire down to a bend or piece of cloth, and fasten the same close to the said forehead. 1790Grose Prov. Gloss., Bend, a border of a woman's cap; north. 1791–9Statist. Acc. Scot. XI. 173 (Jam.) The [Archery] prize [at Kilwinning], from 1488 to 1688, was a sash, or as it was called, a benn..a piece of Taffeta or Persian, of different colours, chiefly red, green, white, and blue.
†b. Anat. A band, a ligament. Obs.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. v, The þridde curtel foloweþ, þat hat ‘cerotica’ [sclerotica], þat..defendeþ all þe oþer from þe hardnesse of þe bon, and is as it were þe bende [ligamentum] of þe ye.
†c. A scroll or riband in decorative work. ? Obs.
c1535in Gutch Coll. Cur. I. 206 And for 246 bends or poses..set up in the same windows. 1743A. Milne in Wade Melrose Ab. (1861) 33 On the East of this Window there is a Niche, having a monk for the supporter of the statue, holding a Bend with each Hand about his Breast. [1861Wade ibid. 314 A venerable monk, bearing a band or scroll.]
†2. A ‘stripe’ inflicted by a lash or rod. Obs. rare. (Also in form band, belonging to band n.2 after sense 8.)
c1400Ywaine & Gaw. 2394 He bar a scourge with cordes ten..Efter ilka band brast out the blode. a1550Peebles to Play, Quoth he, ‘Thy back sall bear ane bend’; ‘In faith,’ quoth she, ‘we meit not.’
3. Her. An ordinary formed by two parallel lines drawn from the dexter chief to the sinister base of the shield, containing the fifth part of the field in breadth, or the third if charged. (See quot. 1872.) bend sinister: a similar ordinary drawn in the opposite direction: one of the marks of bastardy. Cf. baton n. in bend: placed bendwise. parted per bend: divided bendwise.
c1430Syr Gener. 3924 Armes he bereth riche and clene, With bendes of gold wel besene. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. cxciv. 170 Euery bataylle had cote armures of grene clothe and therof the ryght quarter was yelowe with whyte bendes, wherfor that parlement was callyd the parlement of the whyte bende. 1572J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 33 b, Thei are called Bendes. 1598Drayton Heroic. Ep. xxi. 95 That Lyon plac'd in our bright Silver bend. 1622Peacham Compl. Gentl. i. (1634) 9 Some [bare] their Fathers whole Coate..in bend dexter. Ibid., Yet it is the custome with vs, and in France, to allow them for Noble, by giving them sometimes their Fathers proper Coate, with a Bend sinister. 1662Fuller Worthies i. 48 A Bend is esteemed the best Ordinarie, being a Belt born in its true posture athwart. 1688R. Holme Armory i. 74 Parted per Bend Sinister. 1816Scott Antiq. xii, The bend of bastardy upon the shield yonder. 1872Ruskin Eagle's Nest §235 The Bend..represents the sword-belt.
4. A shape or size in which ox- or cow-hides are tanned into leather, forming half of a ‘butt.’
A ‘butt’ is the entire hide of the back and flanks reduced to a rough rectangle, by what is technically called ‘rounding,’ i.e. cutting off the surrounding thinner parts (the hide of the head and shoulders, and of the belly and shanks on each side of the ‘butt’). When this is cut in two by a line down the middle of the back, before tanning (as is mostly done in Scotland and the north of England), each half is called a ‘bend.’ Butts and bends contain the thickest and strongest hide, the qualities of which are further developed by special processes in tanning, so as to make the stoutest leather. Hence:
b. bend-leather (orig. northern): the leather of a ‘bend,’ i.e. the thickest and stoutest kind of leather (from the back and flanks), used for soles of boots and shoes; sole-leather.
1600Heywood 1 K. Edw. Wks. 1874 I. 40, I had rather than a bend of leather Shee and I might smouch together. 1865Times 29 Apr., An average amount of business has been done in leather during the month. Foreign heavy butts and bends have been in only moderate demand.
b.1581Lambarde Eiren. iv. 164 If any tanner have raised with any mixture any hide to bee converted to backes, bend-leather, clowting-leather. 1709Blair in Phil. Trans. XXVII. 76 Of Substance not unlike to English Bend or Sole-Leather. 1811Scott in Lockhart (1839) III. 344 Sir..can you say anything clever about bend leather? 1880Blackw. Mag. Feb. 254 But Jem was a tough one and never knew pains In his vulcanite bowels and bend-leather brains.
▪ III. † bend, n.3 Obs.
Forms: 5–6 bende, 6–7 bend.
[Late 15th c. bende, a. F. bende, another (? earlier) form of F. bande (corresp. to It., Sp., Pg. banda) ‘an organized company of men,’ a band. Both forms, bende and bande, appear to have been introduced from Fr. by Caxton (see band n.3); but bende was by far the more frequent form till late in the 16th c., being always used by Ld. Berners, Sir T. More, Grafton, etc., though band(e, alone appears in the versions of the Bible (Tindale and Coverdale have bonde in John xviii. 3, where the later versions have bande; but the word is not frequent in any form before the Geneva version of 1557). Bend is rare after 1600; the Shakespeare folio of 1623 has always band. The sense of ‘faction, party,’ is assigned also by Cotgrave to F. bande, and by Minsheu to Sp. banda.]
An organized company of men; = band n.3; a party, a faction; a gang.
1475Caxton Jason 78 Upon them that they founde not of their bende. 1509Fisher Fun. Serm. C'tess Richmond (1708) 15 Yf ony faccyons or bendes were made secretly amongst her hede Officers. 1539Tonstall Serm. Palm Sund. (1823) 33 Cornelius the Centuryon, capytayne of the Italyons bende. 1544Stalbridge Epist. 24 A bende of bolde braggers. 1552Huloet, Bende of men, commonly of ten souldiers, manipulus. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. May 32 A fresh bend Of louely Nymphs. 1600Holland Livy xxiii. 473 The bend and faction of the Cossanes..kept him downe. 1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xviii. 15 The Duke of Gloucester..and other Lords, the chiefe of his bend
▪ IV. bend, n.4|bɛnd|
[A late derivative of bend v., appearing in the 16th c.]
I. Related to bend v. II.
1. The action of the verb bend; bending, incurvation; bent condition, flexure, curvature.
1597Way to Thrift 62 Too mickle bend will breake thy bow When the game is alder best. c1790J. Imison Sch. Arts I. 112 When the strong spring C is set on bend against the opposite ends of the pins. c1806A. Mackintosh Driffield Angler 229 The effect of the proper degree of bend. 1816Byron Ch. Har. iii. cii, The gush of springs..the bend Of stirring branches. 1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. I. 236 A wave just on the bend, and about to break over.
2. a. A bending of the body; a bow. Obs. except with defining words, as an instance of sense 1.
(Cf. the slang phrase Grecian Bend, denoting a certain bending forward of the body in walking, affected by some women c 1872–80.)
1529Lyndesay Complaint 181 With bendis and beckis For wantones. a1550Christis Kirk Gr. vi, Platefute he bobit up with bendis, For Mald he made requiest. [Mod. With a quick bend of the body, a slight bend of the knee, etc.]
b. the bends: the acute attacks of pain in muscles and joints suffered on over-rapid reduction of the surrounding air pressure, chiefly by workers in compressed air who are decompressed too quickly, with consequent liberation of dissolved nitrogen from the body tissues. Also, more loosely, the whole disease (also called caisson-disease) produced by decompression.
1894Westm. Gaz. 16 Oct. 3/2 The pressure..is quite enough to give the men a dose of the ‘bend’ [sic] as it is called. 1902Idler July 485 That..terrible air-pressure disease known as the ‘bends’. 1913Pembrey & Ritchie Gen. Path. 494 These pains [in Caisson disease] pass off in a few hours, and are known to the workmen as ‘bends’, apparently because of the flexed positions which they induce. 1962Listener 29 Mar. 562/1 Nitrogen narcosis must not be confused with decompression sickness, commonly known as the bends.
†3. Inclination of the eye in any direction, glance. Obs. rare.
1601Shakes. Jul. C. i. ii. 123 That same eye whose bend doth awe the world.
4. Turn of mind, inclination, bent. Obs. except with defining words, as an instance of sense 1.
1591in Harl. Misc. (1809) II. 211 For the more forcible attraction of these vnnaturall people (being weake of vnder⁓standing) to this their bend, these seedemen of treason bring certain bulles from the Pope. 1610Fletcher Faithf. Sheph. (T.) Farewel, poor swain: thou art not for my bend. c1815Fuseli Lect. Art vii. (1848) 491 The prevalent bend of the reigning taste.
5. concr.
a. A thing of bent shape; the bent part of anything, e.g. of a river, a road; a curve or crook.
c1600Rob. Hood (Ritson) ii. xi. 17 A herd of deer was in the bend All feeding before his face. 1727Chambers Cycl. s.v. Flying, The bony part, or bend of the wing into which the feathers are inserted. 1803Southey Eng. Eclog. ix A long parade..Round yonder bend it reaches A furlong further. 1879Froude Cæsar xix. 319 At a bend of the river four miles below Paris. 1883Century Mag. 378 The perfection of fishhooks in shank, bend, barb and point.
b. The curve of a gun-stock, shaped to fit the arm of the person for whose use it is made.
1859‘Stonehenge’ Shot-gun & Sporting Rifle iv. i. 229 In addition to the adaptation in length and bend of the stock, it is also..bent sideways. 1892W. W. Greener Breech-Loader 73 The distance from a to heel, and from b to comb. This is the bend.
c. A curved drain-pipe.
a1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., Bend, a flexed pipe, changing the direction. 1908Animal Managem. 53 Any change of direction being made by curved pipes or ‘bends’.
d. In a carding machine, the semicircular frame which carries the brackets in which the rollers are borne; also, in a carding machine of the revolving flat type, the curved surface which sustains the chain of flats.
1882Spon's Encycl. Industr. Arts V. 2073 As the periphery passes round to the cylinder, the teeth are then in the act of ascending (the bend being thus in the opposite direction), and presenting facilities for being stripped of the wool they have acquired. 1890J. Nasmith Mod. Cotton Spinn. Mach. 64 The phrase ‘bend’ should only be applied to that portion of the mechanism upon which the flats actually travel. 1892― Students' Cotton Spinning 101 The whole of the rollers are borne in brackets fixed to a semicircular frame bolted on the lower frame P, and known as the ‘bend’, the brackets having open bearings formed at their heads.
6. Naut.
a. pl. ‘The crooked timbers which make the ribs or sides of a ship’ (J.); the wales.
1626Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 11 The Orlope, the ports, the bend, the bowe. 1627― Seaman's Gram. ii. 6 From bend to bend, or waile to waile, which are the out⁓most timbers on the ship sides, and are the chiefe strength of her sides, to which the foot-hookes, beames, and knees are bolted, and are called the first, second, and third Bend. 1725Sloane Jamaica II. 344 A signal of distress from a plank being started on her bend, on the forepart of the ship. 1803Nelson in Nicolas Disp. (1845) V. 127 She is to be caulked, her bends blacked and painted.
b. ‘The chock of the bowsprit.’ Smyth Sailor's Word-bk.
†7. See quots. (Perhaps belongs here.)
1847–78Halliwell, Bend, a semicircular piece of iron used as part of a horse's harness to hold up the chains when ploughing. 1881Evans Leicester Wds. (E. Dial. Soc.) 103 Bend, a piece of bent plate-iron which went over the back of the last horse at plough. Now (1848) disused.
II. Probably related to bend v. V.
†8. ‘A spring, a leap, a bound.’ Jamieson. Sc. Obs. [Cf. bend v. 22.]
1513Douglas æneis v. vi. 58 Befoir thaim all furth bowtis with a bend Nisus a far way. 1550Lyndesay Sqr. Meldrum 519 Quhairon [a steed] he lap, and tuik his speir..And bowtit fordward with ane bend.
9. A long draught, ‘a pull of liquor.’ Jamieson. Only in Sc. [Cf. bend v. 23.]
1725Ramsay Gentle Sheph. in Poems (1844) 31 Come, gie's the other bend, We drink their healths, what ever way it end.
10. a. Phrases. on the bend: by means that are not straightforward, ‘crookedly’; to go on the (or a) bend: to go ‘on the spree’; also to have a bend; cf. bender 5 b. slang.
1863J. C. Jeaffreson Live it Down xxviii, I'll order my executor to buy my coffin off the square. He shall get it on the bend, somehow or other. 1879Kidston in Proc. Gen. Assembly Free Church Scotl. 62 ‘Going on the spree’ or ‘having a bend’. 1887F. Francis Jr. Saddle & Mocassin 84 They do say as he was 'customed to go on a scoop—on a bend, occasionally, as it were. 1891Kipling City Dreadf. Nt. 71 The gallant apprentice may be a wild youth with an earnest desire to go occasionally ‘upon the bend’. 1891― Life's Handicap 60, I went on the bend with a intimate friend. 1936L. A. G. Strong Last Enemy i. x. 152 Been on the bend, 'aven't you?
b. above one's bend: beyond one's powers. U.S.
1835Crockett Tour down East 44, I shall not attempt to describe the curiosities here [sc. at Peale's Museum]; it is above my bend. 1848J. F. Cooper Oak Open. (De Vere), It would be above my bend to attempt telling you all we saw among the Redskins. 1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 577 Above one's bend means, above one's power of bending all his strength to a certain purpose.
c. round the bend: crazy, insane. colloq.
1929F. C. Bowen Sea Slang 114 Round the bend, an old naval term for anybody who is mad. 1951‘N. Shute’ Round the Bend xi. 361 People are saying that I've been out in the East too long, and I've gone round the bend. 1955J. I. M. Stewart Guardians vii. 78 Right round the bend..I mean..as mad as a hatter.
▸ Music (orig. Jazz). Variation of the pitch of a note upwards or downwards to create a deliberately distorted tone; an instance of this. Cf. bend v. Additions
Such variation was originally employed principally by brass players, and produced by the lips, frequently with the aid of half-valving; it is now commonly used also by guitar players and produced by physically bending the strings with the fingers.
1949A. Shaw in Music Libr. Assoc. Notes Dec. 39 Bend, effect employed by the brass section of modern bands. It is achieved by manipulation of the lip and involves a slight upward or downward variation in pitch. 1986Keyboard Player Apr. 16/3 You may use the Magic Foot for sustain or for bend. 1988New Grove Dict. Jazz II. 466/1 Smear, an exaggerated bend of a semitone or a tone down and then up again, executed with a harsh or ‘dirty’ tone. 1995Alternative Press May 70/3 All you really need to hear, is Lois' acoustic guitar and her voice limberly reaching around the bend of each chord.
▪ V. bend, v.|bɛnd|
Forms: pa. tense 1–3 bende, 4–6 bend, 4–5 bente, 3– bent, 6– bended. pa. pple. 1 bended, 4–5 y-, i-, ye-bent, 4–6 bente, 6 y-, i-bente, bende, 4– bended, bent.
[OE. bęndan, prob. identical with ON. benda ‘to join, strain, strive, bend.’ (The rare MHG. benden ‘to fetter’ is perhaps of independent formation.) OTeut. *bandjan, f. bandjâ- ‘string, band,’ in OE. bęnd. In OE. used only in the senses ‘to restrain with a bond, fetter, confine,’ and ‘to bend a bow,’ orig. ‘to hold in restraint or confine with the string.’ From the latter by transference of the word to the bowed or curved condition of a bent bow, came the now main sense of ‘to bow, curve, or crook.’ Cf. the partly parallel history of F. bander, OF. bender (= Pr. and It. bendare, bandare, Sp. and Pg. vendar, bandar).]
Gen. sign. I. To fasten or constrain with a ‘bend’ or bond; to confine, fetter. spec. To constrain a bow with the string (hence, to wind up a cross-bow, cock a pistol); to fasten ropes, sails to the yards, horses to a vehicle. Hence arise two lines of development; II. To bow or curve, deflect, inflect, bow oneself, stoop, submit, yield; III. To direct or level a weapon, to aim, bring to bear, bring one's force or energies to bear. By blending of these; IV. To direct or turn one's steps, oneself, one's mind, eyes, ears, in any specified direction.
I. To bind, to constrain, to make fast.
†1. trans. To put in bonds, to fetter. Obs.
1036O.E. Chron. (MS. C.) Sume hí man bende.
2. spec.
a. To constrain or bring into tension by a string (a bow, an arbalest, a catapult, etc.) Formerly also bend up; = L. tendere. In later times associated with the curved shape into which the bow is brought; = L. flectere. (Hence branch II.)
c1000Ags. Ps. vii. 13 He bende his boᵹan, se is nu ᵹearo to sceotanne. 1297R. Glouc. 377 So styf man he was in harmes, in Ssoldren, & in lende, Þat vnneþe eny man myȝte hys bowe bende. Ibid. 536 Arblastes sone & ginnes withoute me bende. 1375Barbour Bruce xvii. 682 The Engynour than deliuerly Gert bend the gyne in full gret hy. a1400Octovian 1495 And they withoute gynnes bente, And greet stones to hem sente. c1400Destr. Troy xxiii. 9475 Paris bend vp his bow with his big arme. c1440Promp. Parv. 30 Bende bowys, tendo. c1500Rob. Hood (Ritson) i. i. 1266 Sone there were good bowes ibent. 1599Greene George a G. (1861) 264 Bend up your bows, and see your strings be tight. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 774 The Groom his Fellow-Groom at Buts defies; And bends his Bow, and levels with his Eyes. 1870Bryant Homer I. ii. 71 Philoctetes, A warrior skilled to bend the bow.
†b. Transferred to the harquebus, pistol, etc. when these took the place of the bow and arbalest; perhaps, as Littré suggests in regard to the similar use of Fr. bander, with special reference to the old form of lock which had to be wound up like a clock: To cock. Obs. (Hence branch III.)
1633T. Stafford Pac. Hib. vi. (1821) 82 The Pistoll bent, both heart and hand, ready to doe the deed.
c. fig.
1611Bible Jer. ix. 3 And they bend their tongue like their bow for lies.
3. fig. To strain, brace, tighten, wind up, bring into tension (like a strung bow or wound up harquebus). refl. To strain every nerve, brace or wind oneself up, nerve oneself; = Fr. se bander. Obs. or arch. Also bend up: cf. 2.
c1380Sir Ferumb. 545 Wiþ þat þe Sarsyn þat was þor ? wax wroþ on his herte & bente hym brymly as a bor. a1529Skelton Agst. Garnesche 41 Boldly bend you to batell, and buske yourself to save. c1565R. Lindsay Chron. Scot. (1814) 79 Nothing effeired of this disadvantage, bot rather bendit up, and kindled thereat, [he] rushed forward upon Craigiewallace. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, iii. i. 16 Now set the Teeth..Hold hard the Breath, and bend vp euery Spirit To his full height. 1605― Macb. i. vii. 79, I am settled, and bend up Each corporal agent to this terrible feat. 1816Scott Old Mort. vii, Her whole mind apparently bent up to the solemn interview.
4. Naut. To tie, fasten on, make fast (cf. bend n.1 3): e.g. to bend a rope. to bend the cable: to fasten it to the ring of the anchor. to bend a sail: ‘to extend or make it fast to its proper yard or stay’ (Adm. Smyth).
1399Rich. Redeless iv. 72 They bente on a bonet, and bare a topte saile Affor the wynde ffresshely, to make a good ffare. c1440Morte Arth. (Roxb.) 34 A clothe that ouer the bote was bente Sir Gawayne lyfte vp and wente in bayne. 1626Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 16 Bend your cables to your Anchors. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §262 We concluded..to bend our sails (which had indeed been all unbent and stowed down in the hold for the summer) and try to gain Plymouth Sound. 1833Marryat P. Simple xv, He desired Mr. Falcon to get new sails up and bend them. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Bending the Cable, the operation of clinching, or tying the cable to the ring of its anchor. Ibid. Bending ropes is to join them together with a bowline knot, and then make their own ends fast upon themselves.
†5. To harness the horses to (a cart or other vehicle); to yoke. Obs. (Cf. Ger. and Du. spannen to stretch, to bend a bow, to yoke a vehicle. See also bind in this sense.)
1513Douglas æneis xii. v. 169 Sum brydillis stedis, and cartis vp dyd bend. 1535Coverdale Gen. xlvi. 29 Then Joseph bended his charett fast [Vulgate juncto curru; Wyclif, Joseph ioyned his chare; 1611 made ready], and wente vp to mete Israel his father.
II. To bring into the shape or direction of a bent bow.
* Of the shape of a thing.
6. trans.
a. To put or bring into the shape of a bow; to arch. Obs. exc. as a specific sense of 7.
c1320Cast. Loue 743 For heuene-bouwe is abouten i-bent, Wiþ alle þe hewes þat him beþ i-sent. 1382Wyclif Isa. li. 13 The Lord thi shapere, that bente heuenes, and foundide the erthe. 1483Cath. Angl. 27/1 To bend, arcuare. 1655Vaughan Silex Scint. (1858) 50 Who gave the clouds so brave a bow, Who bent the spheres. [1839Bailey Festus x, Who bendst the Heavens before thee like a bow.]
b. to bend the brows: (orig.) to arch the eyebrows; (later) to wrinkle or knit the brow; to frown, scowl. Cf. bent.
a1300in Wright Lyric P. 34 (Mätz.) Heo hath browes bend an heh. c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 305 He..Bende his bresed broȝez. 1387Trevisa Higden (1865) I. 9 (Mätz.) Now men..wolde..whette her tunges and bende hire browes. 1530Palsgr. 448/2 Thou bendest thy browes upon me as thou woldest eate me. 1559Myrr. Mag., Dk. Suffolk xvii, Fortune can both bend and smothe her browe. 1631Gouge God's Arrows i. §41. 66 Passion will soone manifest it selfe..by bending his browes. 1774Blacklock Graham i. xx, In vain that rage which bends thy brow. [Cf.1593Shakes. Rich. II, ii. i. 170 Or bend one wrinckle on my Soueraigne's face.]
7. a. To constrain (anything straight) into any kind of arched or angular shape; to stretch out of the straight; to bow, curve, crook, inflect. Usually said of things linear, but also of surfaces, to dint. ‘Bend’ is not said of flaccid things, such as cotton, cloth, paper, which are ‘folded’; but only of such as possess some rigidity, as a card, wood, metal, gristle; or of rigid things having joints, as the arm or back-bone. Now the main sense.
1393Gower Conf. II. 247 On knees down bent. 1415Pol. Poems (1859) II. 125 His basonet to his brayn was bent. c1435Torr. Port. 2590 No man..That myght make Torent to bowe, Ne his bak to bend. 1584Lyly Campaspe v. i, To bend his body every way, and his mind no way. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, v. iii. 98 Aum. Vnto my mothers prayres, I bend my knee. Yorke. Against them both, my true ioynts bended be. 1597Gerard Herbal iii. xlii. (1633) 1357 Branches..so easie to be bent or bowed, that hereof they make Hoops. 1667Milton P.L. i. 616 Their doubled ranks they bend From wing to wing, and half enclose him round. 1751Desaguliers Fires Impr. 19 A Tube..bended in the manner of a Syphon. a1776J. Ferguson Astron. (1803) 111 Take about seven feet of strong wire, and bend it into a circular form. 1813Byron Giaour 68 He who hath bent him o'er the dead. 1836Dickens Sk. Boz iv. (C.D. ed.) 39 His form is bent by age.
b. To apply the same kind of action to alter curvature in any way, e.g. to straighten what is crooked.
1616R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) 125 The tree growing crooked, if you'l have it mended, Whilst that it is a twigg it must be bended. 1674Petty Disc. bef. R. Soc. 2, I haue therefore, to streighten this crooked stick, bent it..the quite contrary way.
c. To make (a thing fixed at one end) curve over for the time from the erect position.
1681J. Chetham Angler's Vade-m. i. §9 The Yew, though much bended, will quickly return to its former standing. 1692R. Lestrange Fables 215 (1708) I. 233 The Oak was stubborn and chose rather to Break than to Bend. 1832A. Cunningham Song ‘A Wet Sheet’, A wind that follows fast..And bends the gallant mast. 1885Truth 28 May 848/2 The poplars are bent by the rising wind.
8. intr.
a. To assume or receive a curved form, or a shape in which one part is inclined at an angle to the other.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. iv. (1495) 191 For tendernes the lymmes of the chylde maye..bowe and bende and take dyuers shapes. 1577Gascoigne in Farr S.P. (1845) I. 37 The Rainbowe bending in the skie, Bedeckte with sundrye hewes. 1815Encycl. Brit. (ed. 5) VIII. 436 Their knees..bend so, that they are apt to trip and stumble. 1816J. Wilson City of Plague i. i. 30 No knee This day..hath bent before its altar.
b. To curve over from the erect position. (Usually said of things that recover their position when the bending force is withdrawn.)
c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 1378 Thogh she bende, yet she stont a-rote. a1593H. Smith Wks. (1867) II. 90 A house bending to fall. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 311 The waving Harvest bends beneath his Blast. 1751Johnson Rambl. No. 144 ⁋8 The trees that bend to the tempest erect themselves again when its force is past. 1753Hervey Medit. II. 33 The knotty Oaks bend before the Blast.
9. spec.
a. Of persons: To bend the body, to stoop; to assume a bent or stooping posture. to bend over (prep.), i.e. with attention. to bend over (adv.): to put oneself into position to receive a beating; also as v. trans. to bend over backwards: see backwards adv. A.
c1374Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 186 Hir daunger made him boothe bowe and beende. 1599Shakes. Much Ado v. i. 39, I vvould bend vnder anie heauie vvaight. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 462 A Shape within the watry gleam appeerd, Bending to look on me. 1727Swift Gulliver ii. viii. 174 One of the servants opening the door, I bent down to go in. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. i. xi, The sooty smith bends over his anvil. 1850Lytton My Novel vi. vi, He bent down and kissed her cheek. 1889in Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang I. 107/2, Bend over. 1946B. Marshall George Brown's Schooldays ii. 6 They make you bend over again and the second time they often draw blood. Ibid. vii. 36 ‘Bend him over,’ the Bruiser order[ed]. He took a great run and smote the tight little bottom mightily. 1948C. Day Lewis Otterb. Incident iii. 24 He doesn't offer to bend over when one of us is going to be beaten. 1960Betjeman Summoned by Bells v. 49 Bravely I answered, ‘Please, sir, it was me.’ ‘All right. Bend over.’
b. To stoop down as from a height.
1839Sir R. Grant Hymn ‘Saviour, when in dust to Thee’ i, Bending from Thy throne on high, Hear our solemn Litany! 1853Maurice Theol. Ess. vi. 108 We want to see absolute Goodness and Truth. We want to know whether they can bend to meet us.
c. esp. To bend the body in submission or reverence; to bow (unto, to, before, towards).
a1586Sidney in Farr Sel. P. I. 63 The desert-dwellers at his beck shall bend. 1611Bible Isa. lx. 14 The sonnes also of them that afflicted thee, shall come bending vnto thee. 1648Milton Ps. lxxxi. 62 Who hate the Lord should then be fain To bow to him and bend. 1667― P.L. ii. 477 Towards him they bend. 1763Churchill Poems I. 72 Here let me bend, great Dryden, at thy shrine. 1813Scott Rokeby iv. xxx, Their chief to Wilfrid bended low. 1850Robertson Serm. Ser. ii. ii. (1864) 24 Science bending before the Child, becoming childlike.
d. to catch (a person) bending: to catch (someone) at a disadvantage. colloq.
1910Wodehouse Psmith in City xviii. 163 If any tactless person were to publish those..speeches..our revered chief would be more or less caught bending..as regards his chances of getting in as Unionist candidate at Kenningford. 1938― Code of Woosters iv. 97 You'll get the poor bird unfrocked... It's something they do to parsons when they catch them bending. 1967A. Wilson No Laughing Matter ii. 139 He then goes off singing, ‘My word, if I catch you bending, my word, if I catch you bending.’
10. fig. To submit, to bow; to yield, give way to; to prove pliant, tractable, or subservient.
a1400Cursor M. 1584 (Fairfax MS.) He wende þat alle sulde til his wil bende. 1644Quarles Judgm. & Mercy 146 Whose leaden souls are taught by stupid reason to stand bent at every wrong. 1723Sheffield (Dk. Buckhm.) Wks. 1753 I. 9 Under this law both kings and kingdoms bend. 1763J. Brown Poetry & Mus. §12. 207 Well attested Facts are stubborn Things, and will not bend to general Affirmations. 1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 92 If any excessive paroxysms do not immediately bend before it. 1841Macaulay Let. in Trevelyan Life (1876) II. ix. 108 All considerations as to dignity of style ought to bend to his consideration.
11. trans. To cause (a person, the temper, spirit, mind, or will) to bow, stoop, incline, or relent.
1538Starkey England 24 Bend your selfe to that to the wych you are borne. 1583Stanyhurst Aeneis ii. (Arb.) 65 Yf that prayer annye the bendeth. 1652L. S. People's Lib. i. 2 Seeing he will not be bended by reason. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 331 The spirit of the rustic gentry was not to be bent. 1872Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xviii. 156 The sight in no way bent the hearts of the men of Exeter. 1877Mrs. Oliphant Makers Flor. xv. 367 To ask pardon, no doubt a hard thing to bend his mind to.
12. a. to bend the head or face: to lower it or direct it downwards, by bending the neck; to bow the head.
a1652J. Smith Sel. Disc. i. 6 With their faces bended downwards. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 740 Trees bent their Heads to hear him. c1720S. Wesley Hymn of Eupolis 102 Bend your heads, in homage bend. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. §3. 29 He took my hand and, silently bending down his head, kissed it.
b. intr. (for refl.) Predicated of the head.
1872Geo. Eliot in Cross Life III. 169 The sight of the dull faces bending round the gaming tables. 1875Miss Thackeray Miss Angel xxi. 195 The heads bend in long line.
** Of the direction in which a thing lies.
13. trans. To turn away from the straight line (without reference to the curve imparted); to incline in any direction; to deflect, turn.
1513Douglas æneis ix. vi. 23 The cartis stand with ly⁓mowris bendyt strek. 1563T. Hill Arte Garden. (1593) 155 [They] will in the next morrow, bee turned or bended another way. 1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Introd., The foremost longest [legges] are bended forewards; but those that leap..are bended backward. 1877Proctor Spectroscope i. 11 The ray is again bent from the perpendicular.
fig.1882C. Pebody Eng. Jrnlism. xvi. 123 He used generally to bend conversation in such way as to avoid coming into dispute with his companions.
14. intr.
a. To have a direction away from the straight line, to incline in any direction, to trend.
1572L. Mascall Govt. Cattle (1627) 255 His groyne and snout short, and beinding backeward. 1600Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 216 The Island..bending from him full West. 1601Holland Pliny I. 117 That mountaine of the one side bendeth downe toward Euxinus. 1609Bible (Douay) 1 Sam. xx. 41 David rose out of his place which did bend to the South. 1730A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 267 Spikes..which stretched forward into the Arena, and..bended towards it. 1858Longfellow Discov. North Cape xviii, And now the land..Bent southward suddenly.
†b. fig. To tend. Obs.
1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 641/1 These three bend (as it were) to one, to wit, the riche men must do good, and part with their goodes to other, and giue willingly.
15. trans. (fig.) To turn aside or pervert from the right purpose or use; to twist, wrest. spec. in mod. slang: to use for ‘crooked’ or wrongful purposes; to steal; to ‘throw’ (a contest, etc.).
a1555Latimer Serm. & Rem. (1845) 332 Forasmuch as I have heard, Ecce vobiscum sum..bended to corroborate the same. 1562Cooper Answ. Def. Truth (1850) 91 Their successors, by little and little, bent the same name unto the action and celebration of the Sacrament.
1864O. W. Norton Army Lett. (1903) 242 Perhaps you think it bending the Sabbath to build while I should be at church. 1930Amer. Mercury XXI. 454/2 We bend a boat to hist the hooch. 1958Observer 30 Nov. 13/8 There are honest landladies in districts like Victoria who let a flat to someone they think is an ordinary girl, who then proceeds to ‘bend’ it: uses it for prostitution. 1960Sunday Express 16 Oct. 1/7 Watford players shared {pstlg}110 given to them by the Brighton players to ‘bend’ a home and away game with them.
†16.
a. trans. To incline, dispose in mind; mostly in pass. to be inclined or disposed to, towards; to be prone, liable, ready; to be addicted, given. Obs.
1538Starkey England 78 Thys idulnes and vanyte, to the wych the most parte of our pepul ys much gyven and bent. 1579E. K. in Spenser Sheph. Cal. Apr. 5 Gloss., Aprill..is most bent to showres. 1607Topsell Serpents 782 There is not one of them so ill bent, so malapertly sawcy, and impudently shamelesse. 1708Swift Sacr. Test Wks. 1755 II. i. 124, I am hugely bent to believe, that whenever you concern yourselves in our affairs, it is certainly for our good. 1749Fielding Tom Jones vii. xi, Seemed bent to extenuate.
†b. intr. To incline, lean, in mind or conduct.
1567Triall Treas. (1850) 16 He that bendeth to folowe his own inclination. 1577Holinshed Chron. III. 1029/2 Although Ket bent to all vngratiousnes.
III. To direct, aim (as a bow bent for shooting).
Cf. Jer. li. 3 Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow.
†17.
a. trans. To direct, turn, aim, level, bring to bear (cannon, forces, etc.) against, upon, at. Obs.
1530Palsgr. 448/1 They bended agaynst the castell ten courtaultes and fyftene serpentynes. 1577Holinshed Chron. III. 1095/2 They bent their ordinance against the gate. 1595Shakes. John ii. i. 37 Our cannon shall be bent Against the browes of this resisting towne. 1649Cromwell in Carlyle Lett. cvii. (1871) II. 163 They bent their guns at the frigate. 1801Scott Cadyow Castle xxxv, With hackbut bent, my secret stand Dark as the purposed deed I chose.
†b. To aim, couch, direct (a spear or sword).
1591Spenser Virg. Gnat. lii, Each doth against the others bodie bend His cursed steele. 1596― F.Q. i. iii. 34 So bent his speare and spurd his horse with yron heele. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, i. ii. 95 Thy murd'rous Faulchion..The which thou once didd'st bend against her brest.
†c. fig. To direct (hostile action or words) against, on, (prayers) to heaven, etc. Obs.
1577Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 96 The persecution..was so vehemently bent against him. 1605Shakes. Lear ii. i. 48 The Gods 'Gainst Paricides did all the thunder bend. 1653Cromwell Lett. & Sp. (Carl.) III. 219, I shall rather bend my prayers for you. 1681E. Sclater Serm. Putney 12 All their Subtlety and Polity must be bent against them.
†d. intr. (for refl.) Obs.
a1636Milton Arcades 6 This, this is she To whom our vows and wishes bend.
18. a. trans. To direct, apply, or bring to bear strenuously (one's mind, energies, etc.) on, upon.
c1510More Picus Wks. (1557) 30 A very louer beleueth in his mynde, On whom so euer he hath his heart Ibente, That in that person menne maye nothing finde, But honorable. 1577Harrison England ii. iii. (1877) 79 If they bend their minds to the knowledge of the same. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. i. v. §10 The scope..whereunto they bend their endeavours. 1796Burke Regic. Peace Wks. 1842 II. 313 They bent..their designs and efforts to revive the old French party. 1876Green Short Hist. ii. §8 (1882) 102 A sovereign who bent the whole force of his mind to hold together an Empire.
b. refl. To direct or apply oneself. rare.
1591Lok in Farr S.P. (1845) I. 140 Whilst in the garden of this earthly soile Myself to solace and to bath I bend. 1593Bilson Govt. Christ's Ch. 362 Many Bishops bent themselves to alter the Emperours minde. 1669Bunyan Holy Citie 56 If any shall..bend themselves to disappoint the designs of the Eternal God. 1850Thackeray Pendennis lxxi, To the completion of which he bent himself with all his might.
c. intr. (for refl.)
1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 285 If to the Warlike Steed thy Studies bend, Or for the Prize in Chariots to contend. 1856Kane Arct. Exp. II. xxvi. 258 Bending to our oars as the water opened [we] reached the shore.
19. to be bent: to be intent, determined, resolved. Const. on or upon (to, for, obs.) an object or action; also (arch.) to do (something).
c1400Cov. Myst. (1841) 3 Now be we bent In this pagent the trewthe to telle. 1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. 66 To bring him to be more hedefully bent to make amendes. 1626Bacon New Atl. 15 And was only bent to make his Kingdom and People happy. 1762Goldsm. Cit. W. vi. (1837) 26 The youth seems obstinately bent on finding you out. a1859De Quincey Wks. XIII. 49 He is..bent upon confusing us; and I am bent upon preventing him. 1868Morris Earthly Par. ii. (1870) 173 Like my fathers, bent to gather fame. 1868Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. vii. 158 A project on which the King was fully bent.
IV. Figurative uses in which ‘direct, aim,’ and ‘bow, deflect, turn,’ are combined.
20. a. intr. To direct oneself, proceed, turn. arch.
1399Langl. Rich. Redeless iii. 76 Þei..burnisched her beekis, and bent to-him-wardis And ffolowid him ffersly. c1460Towneley Myst. 303 (Mätz.) To hir buxumly I red that we bende. 1601Shakes. All's Well iii. ii. 57 Thence we came: And..Thither we bend againe. 1698Dryden æneid vi. 438 Why to the Shore the thronging people bent. 1713Addison Cato iii. ii. 124 But see! My brother Marcus bends this way! 1813Byron Corsair i. xvii, He..Down to the cabin with Gonsalvo bends.
b. trans. To direct or turn (one's steps, course, way, etc.).
1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 19 Hee knewe not which way to bende his pace. 1583Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 24 Oure course tward Italye bending. 1667Milton P.L. iii. 573 Thither his course he bends Through the calm Firmament. 1718Pope Iliad ii. 64 To the fleet Atrides bends his way. 1821J. Baillie Wallace xxii, And to the wild woods bent his speed. 1883M. Crawford Mr. Isaacs xii. 268 Thither we all three bent our steps.
c. trans. To direct (anything led, driven, or carried). arch.
1583Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 47 To Troy ward when first you bended a nauye. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, iv. v. 14 Many other of great name and worth: And towards London do they bend their power. 1746Collins Ode to Peace, To Britain bent his iron Car.
21. trans. To direct, turn, or incline (the eyes, or ears), in the direction of anything seen or heard.
1581J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 314 b, The pearcyng light of the Sunne..doth blinde the sight, if the eyes be over much bente thereunto. 1586Let. Earle Leycester 31, I neuer..bent my eares to credite a tale that first was tolde mee. 1648Milton Ps. lxxxviii. 8 And to my cries..Thine ear with favor bend. a1795Southey Joan of Arc iv. 62 Every eye on her was bent. 1833H. Martineau Manch. Strike iv. 54 His eyes bent on the ground in deep thought.
V. Senses of doubtful origin.
†22. intr. ‘To spring, to bound.’ Sc. Obs. [Perh. related to 3, or 17.]
c1530Lyndesay is referred to by Jamieson.
23. ‘To drink hard; a cant term’ (Jamieson). [Perh. ‘to pull, strain’ in reference to pulling or straining a bow (cf. 3); or ‘to ply, apply oneself to’ (cf. 18).] trans. and intr.
a1758A. Ramsay Poems (1800) I. 215 (Jam.) Braw tippony..Which we with greed Bended, as fast as she could brew. Ibid. ii. 73 (Jam.) To bend wi' ye, and spend wi' ye, An evening, and gaffaw. [1860Ramsay Remin. Ser. i. (ed. 7) 47 Bend weel to the Madeira at dinner, for here ye'll get little o't after. Cf. 18 b.]
▸ colloq. (orig. U.S.). to bend a person's ear (also, occas. ears): to talk to someone, esp. at great length, repetitively, or vehemently; to harangue someone. Cf. ear-bender n. 1.
1938J. Mitchell (title) My ears are bent. 1939N.Y. Times Mag. 29 Oct. 22/1 The better we listen and the more we let them bend our ear, the bigger our tip. 1944New Yorker 4 Nov. 22/2 Evvey [sic] night my sister Henny would bend my ears how her Mortie is freezin' hisself to death sleepin' out there on the porch. 1979S. Brett Comedian Dies v. 62 I'd like to bend your ear for a moment about a couple of ideas. 1990Economist 22 Sept. 43/1 The purpose was to bend Mr Major's ear about the impact of the recession now hitting British industry.
▸ trans. Music (orig. Jazz). To alter the pitch of (a note, etc.) upwards or downwards to create a deliberately distorted tone. Also intr.: (of a note) to alter in pitch. Cf. bend n.4 Additions.
1948R. O. Boyer in New Yorker 3 July 32/1 You must be very, very, very careful not to use the bell. Use the valves. Then what you hit will bend. 1974S. Delany Dhalgren iii. 225 Notes bent like blues and slid, chromatically, from mode to austere mode. 1999New Yorker 10 May 65/1 He bends notes down, inverts the melody, spreads out the pitches of the chords, leans on a single note while the chords change around it.
▸ trans. N. Amer. slang. to bend (a person) out of shape. In pass. To be intoxicated with alcohol or narcotics; cf. bent adj. Additions.
1949Waukesha (Wisconsin) Daily Freeman 12 Sept. 6/3 There's what looks like a burned-up car parked outside the VFW post... The car doesn't seem to have been in an accident, so our informant figures it must have been somebody else who got all bent out of shape. 1971Red Bluff (Calif.) Daily News 11 Feb. 3/3 Why are you hung up on a clown who would rather get bent out of shape in a bar than spend an evening with you? 1982W. R. Dunn Fighter Pilot (1996) iii. 46 Old Lovely, bent out of shape with giggle soup, lay on top of an upright piano near the bar door, and when anyone entered he poured beer on their heads.
To annoy, upset; to disconcert. Usu. in pass.
1955Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune 5 Nov. 4/1 There were plenty of fans bent out of shape trying to dodge the rain drops and brisk breeze blowing across the stadium as they huddled in the rain-soaked stands. 1967Lima (Ohio) News 11 June c4/4 If he is really ‘bent out of shape’, a person may ‘throw a show’—make a scene. 1975C. W. Smith Country Music ix. 259 It came to me in a flash the perfect way to bend that entire Bible-thumping crew completely out of shape! 1997M. Fabi Wyrm v. 142 But he was bent out of shape even before Dan said anything about cracking Macrobyte. |