BENT  . 1 . (From " to

bend "), primarily the result of bending; hence any inclination from the straight, as in curved objects like a hook or a bow; this survives in the modern phrase " to follow one's own bent," i.e. to pursue a certain course in a direction deviating from the normal, as also in such phrases as Chaucer's " Downward on a hill under a bent," indicating a hollow or declivity in the general configuration of the land . From the bending of a bow comes the idea of tension, as in Hamlet, " they fool me to the top of my bent," i.e. to the utmost of my capacity . 2 . (From the O . Eng. beonet, a coarse, rushy grass growing in wet places; cf. the Ger .