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bender

noun
/ˈbɛndə/UK/ˈbɛndɚ/US

Etymology

Hypotheses: * bend + -er. In sense of “heavy drinking”, originally generally “spree”, from 1846, of uncertain origin – vague contemporary sense of “something extraordinary”, connection to bend (e.g., bending elbow to drink (bend one's elbow)) or perhaps from Scottish sense of “strong drinker”. * In Britain, for about four centuries, a sixpence was known as a bender because its silver content made it easy to bend in the hands. This was commonly done to create ‘love tokens’, many of which survive in collections to this day. The value of a sixpence was also enough to get thoroughly inebriated as taverns would often allow you to drink all day for two pence. This gave rise to the expression ‘going on a bender’. * (interjection): From over the bender, referring to a person's arm (and sometimes accompanied by a gesture of the thumb backward over the shoulder); compare over the left shoulder.

  1. derived from *bʰendʰ-✻ — “to bind, tie”
  2. inherited from *bandijaną✻ — “to bend”
  3. inherited from *bandijan✻
  4. inherited from bendan — “to bind or bend (a bow), fetter, restrain”
  5. inherited from benden
  6. suffixed as bender — “bend + er”

Definitions

  1. One who, or that which, bends.

  2. A device to aid bending of pipes to a specific angle.

  3. A bout of heavy drinking.

    • He's been out on a bender with his mates.
    • A couple of students of Williams College went over to North Adams on a bender. This would have been serious matter under the best of circumstances, but each returned with a “brick in his hat,” etc.
    • "Wait, is this about the other night when you two lightweights totally went on that bender?"
  4. ›+ 10 more definitions

    1. A homosexual man.

      • “So they're easy about having a bender in the house, are they, their lordships?”

    2. A simple shelter, made using flexible branches or withies.

    3. A suspended sentence.

      • 'Oh and Gary, what happened in Ahmed?' 'Not guilty, sir.' 'Oh no! And Tredwell?' 'Bender.' 'Suspended sentence? So both walked. […]
      • He anticipated a prison sentence though he thought there was a slight possibility of 'getting off on a bender' (suspended sentence).

    4. A sixpence.

    5. A spree, a frolic.

    6. Something exceptional.

    7. Used to express disbelief or doubt at what one has just heard.

    8. Used to indicate that the previous phrase was meant sarcastically or ironically.

      • O yes, I'll do it — bender!

    9. A surname.

    10. A city and municipality of Moldova, under de-facto control of Transnistria.

The neighborhood

Derived

bagel bender, banana bender, banana-bender, B-bender, bumder, conduit bender, fender-bender, fender bender, gender-bender, gender bender, hellbender, mindbender, over the bender, pipe bender, pretzel-bender, reality bender, spaghetti bender, spoonbender, taco bender, taco-bender, tickly-bender, wirebender

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for bender. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA