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Bender
Definitions
- 1 Used to express disbelief or doubt at what one has just heard. British, obsolete, slang
- 2 Used to indicate that the previous phrase was meant sarcastically or ironically. British, obsolete, slang
"O yes, I'll do it — bender!"
- 1 A surname.
- 2 A city and municipality of Moldova, under de-facto control of Transnistria.
- 1 One who, or that which, bends.
- 2 a pitch of a baseball that is thrown with spin so that its path curves as it approaches the batter wordnet
- 3 A device to aid bending of pipes to a specific angle.
- 4 revelry in drinking; a merry drinking party wordnet
- 5 A bout of heavy drinking. slang
"He's been out on a bender with his mates."
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 a tool for bending wordnet
- 7 A homosexual man. UK, derogatory, slang
"“So they're easy about having a bender in the house, are they, their lordships?”"
- 8 A simple shelter, made using flexible branches or withies.
- 9 A suspended sentence. UK, slang
"'Oh and Gary, what happened in Ahmed?' 'Not guilty, sir.' 'Oh no! And Tredwell?' 'Bender.' 'Suspended sentence? So both walked. […]"
- 10 A sixpence. UK, obsolete, slang
"What will you take to be paid out?’ said the butcher. ‘The regular chummage is two–and–six. Will you take three bob?’ ‘And a bender,’ suggested the clerical gentleman. ‘Well, I don’t mind that; it’s only twopence a piece more,’ said Mr. Martin. ‘What do you say, now? We’ll pay you out for three–and–sixpence a week. Come!’"
- 11 A spree, a frolic. US, obsolete, slang
- 12 Something exceptional. US, obsolete, slang
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.
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.
From bender; the name was given to someone who bent things.
See also for "bender"
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