I. trans. 1. To release or relax (a bow) from tension; to unstring.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 483. Lamech wið wreðe is knape nam, Vn-bente is boȝe, and bet, and sloȝ.
c. 1290. St. John, 331, in S. Eng. Leg., I. 412. Þare-aftur sone he nam is bouwe, and unbende it ase he couþe.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, v. (John), 481. Þar-for he his bow vnbent. Þane sad sancte Iohne: ‘tel þi entent, quhy þu vnbent þi bow sa sone.’
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 108. Thanne was I furthest ate laste, And as a foll my bowe unbende.
1413. 26 Pol. Poems, 53. Pray we god his bowe of wraþþe vnbende.
c. 1440. Alph. Tales, 274. Þe apostell askid hym whi it was vnbendid.
1503–4. Act 19 Hen. VII., c. 4. Yf … servauntes … shote with their Crosebowe otherwyse than … to unbend the same.
1530. Palsgr., 766/1. Unbende your bowes, syrs, nowe you come in to the towne.
1614. Purchas, Pilgrimage, VI. v. (ed. 2), 590. Others 3. times vnbent their bows, & thrice again bent them whiles their horses ran.
1627. Drayton, Agincourt, 61. Their bloody swords they quietly had sheath’d, And their strong bowes already were unbent.
1825. Scott, Talism., xii. Unbend thy arblast, and come into the moonlight.
† b. To uncock (a fire-arm). Obs.–1
1632. Lithgow, Trav., VIII. 351. Holding vp my hand, and imploring for our liues…, they vnbend their fire-locks, and … did me homage.
† 2. To slacken or weaken. Obs.
1605. Shaks., Macb., II. ii. 45. You doe vnbend your Noble strength, to thinke So braine-sickly of things. Ibid. (1611), Cymb., II. iv. 111. Why hast thou gone so farre To be vn-bent?
1831. G. P. R. James, Phil. Augustus, vi. My curse upon time! for he … saps our castles, and unbends our sinews.
3. fig. To relax, to give relaxation to (one’s mind, etc.); to free from serious occupations.
1594. Southwell, M. Magd. Funeral Teares (1823), 139. Unlesse thou wilt unbend her thoughts, that her eyes may fully see thee.
1604. Marston, Malcontent, III. ii. E j b. Thou that … Vnbendst the feebled vaines of sweatie labour.
1656. Cowley, Pindar, Odes, To Dr. Scarborough, vi. Unbend sometimes thy restless care.
1725. Pope, Odyss., I. 335. Social mirth unbent his serious soul.
1753. Hanway, Trav., VII. xcviii. (1762), I. 459. In this palace … the king most unbends his mind.
1839. Hallam, Hist. Lit., II. vi. § 5. The extemporaneous comedy had always been the amusement … of all who wished to unbend their minds.
1856. N. Brit. Rev., XXVI. 217. The mind of the reader is unbent, he puts aside for a time his own cares.
refl. 1672. Wycherley, Love in Wood, V. ii. Men in office too, that adjourn their cares and businesses, to come and unbend themselves at night here.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 93, ¶ 10. The Mind never unbends itself so agreeably as in the Conversation of a well chosen Friend.
1791. Boswell, Johnson, Ded. Dr. Clarke … was unbending himself with a few friends in the most playful and frolicksome manner.
1891. L. Falconer, Mlle. Ixe, ii. 38. A very different person from the Mademoiselle Ixe who unbent herself with Evelyn.
4. Naut. To unfasten, untie, undo (a cable, line, or sail).
1627. Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram., vii. 30. [To] vnbend the Cable, is … to take it away, which we vsually doe when we are at Sea.
1720. De Foe, Capt. Singleton (1906), 220. We immediately unbent all our sails,… and set up seven or eight tents with them.
1745. P. Thomas, Jrnl. Anson’s Voy., 27. We split the Foresail and unbent it, and bent another.
1793. Smeaton, Edystone L., § 158. We found it equally difficult to get the bridle chain unbent from the swivel.
1840. R. H. Dana, Bef. Mast, xxvi. We unbent the mainsail, and formed an awning with it.
1875. Board of Trade Instr. Saving Life by Rocket. Unbend the Rocket Line from the Warp.
1882. Nares, Seamanship (ed. 6), 124. What ropes are bent and unbent from the sail?
5. To allow or cause (the brow) to relax from a serious, severe, or frowning aspect.
1718. Prior, Henry & Emma, 6. Wilt thou awhile unbend thy serious Brow? Ibid., 138. A softer Look unbends his op’ning Brow.
1811. Lamb, Hogarth, Wks. 1909, I. 110. The … joke which has unbent his care-worn hard-working visage.
1816. Byron, Parisina, xx. But never … smile his brow unbended.
6. To straighten from a bent or curved position; to unfold. Also refl.
1663. Bp. Patrick, Parab. Pilgr., xxx. They are the Souls whose Prayers God hears, who employ their hands as soon as they have unbent their knees.
1817. Kirby & Spence, Entomol., xxiii. II. 315. These [spines] are of great use in pushing them off when the legs are unbended.
1834–6. P. Barlow, in Encycl. Metrop. (1845), VIII. 99/2. A spring, which, in order that it may exert any force or give motion to a Machine, must first unbend itself.
1886. N. Zealand Herald, 8 Nov., 6/5. Three nets were unbent and a number of opening games played.
absol. 1816. Kirby & Sp., Entomol., xxiii. (1817), II. 315. They bend their legs like the grasshoppers, and then unbending kick them out with violence.
II. intr. or absol. † 7. To abandon an effort or attempt. Obs. rare.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 1744 (Dubl. MS.). For-þi is better vnbende & of þi brathe leue. Ibid., 1974. For-þi it wer better vnbenden or þou bale suffre.
8. a. To free oneself from constraint or ceremony; to act in an unconstrained or genial manner; to relax one’s seriousness or severity.
1746. Francis, trans. Horace, Epist., I. xviii. 106. Yet oft at home you can unbend, And even to trifling Sports descend.
1784. Cowper, Tiroc., 608. Ev’n in his pastimes he requires a friend, To warn, and teach him safely to unbend.
1831. D. E. Williams, Life & Corr. Sir T. Lawrence, II. 351, note. He seemed to unbend, and give way to his humour.
1869. Freeman, Norm. Conq., vii. (1877), II. 28. In private company though he never forgot his rank, he could unbend.
b. Of the features: To lose severity; to relax.
1818. Scott, Rob Roy, xviii. His hard features gradually unbent.
1897. A. Dodson, Poems, Tale of Polypheme, xviii. Soon the Child Filled the lone shore with louder merriment, And e’en the Cyclops’ heavy brow unbent.
c. To relax in purpose.
1877. C. Geikie, Christ, xxxv. (1879), 413. His soul never unbent from its grand enthusiasm.
9. To alter from a bend or curve; to become straight or less curved.
1815. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, II. 35. The spring, by unbending at the same time, loses a part of its power.
1861. Geo. Eliot, Silas M., xii. But the complete torpor came at last: the fingers lost their tension, the arms unbent.
1867. Augusta Wilson, Vashti, xxx. The brow wore its heavy cloud, and the arch of the lip had not unbent.
