Bend vs. Bowing — What's the Difference?

To cause to assume a curved or angular shape

Bowing (also called stooping) is the act of lowering the torso and head as a social gesture in direction to another person or symbol. It is most prominent in Asian cultures but it is also typical of nobility and aristocracy in many European countries.

To bring (a bow, for example) into a state of tension by drawing on a string or line.

To bend or curve downward; stoop.

To force to assume a different direction or shape, according to one's own purpose

To incline the body or head or bend the knee in greeting, consent, courtesy, acknowledgment, submission, or veneration.

To misrepresent; distort

To yield in defeat or out of courtesy; submit.

To relax or make an exception to

To bend (the head, knee, or body) to express greeting, consent, courtesy, acknowledgment, submission, or veneration.

To cause to swerve from a straight line; deflect

To convey (greeting, for example) by bending the body.

To render submissive; subdue

To escort deferentially

To apply (the mind) closely

To cause to acquiesce; submit.

(Nautical) To fasten

To overburden

To deviate from a straight line or position

To bend (something) into the shape of a bow.

To assume a curved, crooked, or angular form or direction

(Music) To play (a stringed instrument) with a bow.

To incline the body; stoop.

To bend into a curve or bow.

To make a concession; yield.

(Music) To play a stringed instrument with a bow.

To apply oneself closely; concentrate

An inclination of the head or body, as in greeting, consent, courtesy, acknowledgment, submission, or veneration.

The act or fact of bending.

A bent, curved, or arched object.

The state of being bent.

A weapon consisting of a curved, flexible strip of material, especially wood, strung taut from end to end and used to launch arrows.

Something bent

An archer.

A knot that joins a rope to a rope or another object.

Archers considered as a group.

Bends The thick planks in a ship's side; wales.

(Music) A rod having horsehair drawn tightly between its two raised ends, used in playing instruments of the violin and viol families.

Bends (used with a sing. or pl. verb) Decompression sickness. Used with the.

A stroke made by this rod.

A band passing from the upper dexter corner of an escutcheon to the lower sinister corner.

A knot usually having two loops and two ends; a bowknot.

(transitive) To cause (something) to change its shape into a curve, by physical force, chemical action, or any other means.

A frame for the lenses of a pair of eyeglasses.

(intransitive) To become curved.

The part of such a frame passing over the ear.

(transitive) To cause to change direction.

A rainbow.

(intransitive) To change direction.

An oxbow.

(intransitive) To be inclined; to direct itself.

All senses

To stoop.

The act of bending at the waist, as a sign of respect or greeting.

(intransitive) To bow in prayer, or in token of submission.

A bending.

(transitive) To force to submit.

A technique for using the bow on a string instrument such as a violin.

(intransitive) To submit.

The act or art of managing the bow in playing on stringed instruments.

(transitive) To apply to a task or purpose.

In hatmaking, the act or process of separating and distributing the fur or hair by means of a bow, to prepare it for felting.

(intransitive) To apply oneself to a task or purpose.

Bending the head or body or knee as a sign of reverence or submission or shame

(transitive) To adapt or interpret to for a purpose or beneficiary.

Managing the bow in playing a stringed instrument;

To tie, as in securing a line to a cleat; to shackle a chain to an anchor; make fast.

Showing an excessively deferential manner

To smoothly change the pitch of a note.

To swing the body when rowing.

A curve.

Any of the various knots which join the ends of two lines.

A severe condition caused by excessively quick decompression, causing bubbles of nitrogen to form in the blood; decompression sickness.

(heraldry) One of the honourable ordinaries formed by two diagonal lines drawn from the dexter chief to the sinister base; it generally occupies a fifth part of the shield if uncharged, but if charged one third.

(obsolete) Turn; purpose; inclination; ends.

In the leather trade, the best quality of sole leather; a butt; sometimes, half a butt cut lengthwise.

(mining) Hard, indurated clay; bind.

The thickest and strongest planks in a ship's sides, more generally called wales, which have the beams, knees, and futtocks bolted to them.

The frames or ribs that form the ship's body from the keel to the top of the sides.

(music) A glissando, or glide between one pitch and another.

To strain or move out of a straight line; to crook by straining; to make crooked; to curve; to make ready for use by drawing into a curve; as, to bend a bow; to bend the knee.

To turn toward some certain point; to direct; to incline.

To apply closely or with interest; to direct.

To cause to yield; to render submissive; to subdue.

To fasten, as one rope to another, or as a sail to its yard or stay; or as a cable to the ring of an anchor.

To be moved or strained out of a straight line; to crook or be curving; to bow.

To jut over; to overhang.

To be inclined; to be directed.

To bow in prayer, or in token of submission.

A turn or deflection from a straight line or from the proper direction or normal position; a curve; a crook; as, a slight bend of the body; a bend in a road.

Turn; purpose; inclination; ends.

A knot by which one rope is fastened to another or to an anchor, spar, or post.

The best quality of sole leather; a butt. See Butt.

Hard, indurated clay; bind.

Same as caisson disease. Usually referred to as the bends.

A band.

One of the honorable ordinaries, containing a third or a fifth part of the field. It crosses the field diagonally from the dexter chief to the sinister base.

A circular segment of a curve;

Movement that causes the formation of a curve

Curved segment (of a road or river or railroad track etc.)

An angular or rounded shape made by folding;

A town in central Oregon at the eastern foot of the Cascade Range

Diagonal line traversing a shield from the upper right corner to the lower left

Form a curve;

Change direction;

Cause (a plastic object) to assume a crooked or angular form;

Bend one's back forward from the waist on down;

Turn from a straight course , fixed direction, or line of interest

Bend a joint;