UNBEND • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Unbend

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/ˌənbˈɛnd/ Listen

verb

Unbend v. t. (past & past part. unbent; pres. part. unbending)

To free from flexure; to make, or allow to become, straight; to loosen; as, to unbend a bow.

A remit from a strain or from exertion; to set at ease for a time; to relax; as, to unbend the mind from study or care. "You do unbend your noble strength."

(Naut.)

(a)

To unfasten, as sails, from the spars or stays to which they are attached for use.

(b)

To cast loose or untie, as a rope.

Unbend v. i. (past & past part. unbent; pres. part. unbending)

To cease to be bent; to become straight or relaxed.

To relax in exertion, attention, severity, or the like; hence, to indulge in mirth or amusement.

See images of 'Unbend'

Etymology of 'Unbend'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Unbend" Quotes from Famous Books

... fort below among soldiers and peasant women, to which she did not lower her thoughts. The noise of resulting merrymakings sufficiently sought out and annoyed her ear. But the wedding of the guest to a man of consequence in the Dutch colony was something to which she might unbend herself. ...

— The Lady of Fort St. John • Mary Hartwell Catherwood

... reserve, the greatest dulness? I say an Englishman of the genteel classes. An honest groom jokes and hobs-and-nobs and makes his way with the kitchen-maids, for there is good social nature in the man; his master dare not unbend. Look at him, how he scowls at you on your entering an inn-room; think how you scowl yourself to meet his scowl. To-day, as we were walking and staring about the place, a worthy old gentleman in a carriage, seeing a pair of strangers, took off his hat and ...

— Little Travels and Roadside Sketches • William Makepeace Thackeray

... was hardly less affectionate to my aunt than to me, and often told her of the time when she was afraid she was 'a cross old thing'. I never saw my aunt unbend more systematically to anyone. She courted Jip, though Jip never responded; listened, day after day, to the guitar, though I am afraid she had no taste for music; never attacked the Incapables, though the temptation must have been severe; went wonderful distances on ...

— David Copperfield • Charles Dickens

... to the Sylph, and getting on board of her by the aid of one of the boats, they proceeded to unbend her sails. ...

— All Aboard; or, Life on the Lake - A Sequel to "The Boat Club" • Oliver Optic

... friend, I think, would like to see her. And we must have music. Let the band never cease playing. Ah! it is here, dear Albert, that one learns to forget how strenuous life really is. It is here that one may unbend. ...

— The Mischief Maker • E. Phillips Oppenheim

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