What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Bent vs Bunt - What's the difference?

bent | bunt |

As verbs the difference between bent and bunt

is that bent is past tense of bend while bunt is to intentionally hit softly with a hands-spread batting stance.

As nouns the difference between bent and bunt

is that bent is an inclination or talent while bunt is the middle part, cavity, or belly of a sail; the part of a furled sail which is at the center of the yard.

As an adjective bent

is folded, dented.

bent

English

Etymology 1

From bend.

Verb

(head)
  • (bend)

    • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (Of something that is usually straight) folded, dented
  • (derogatory, colloquial, chiefly, UK) Homosexual.
  • Determined or insistent.
    • He was bent on going to Texas, but not even he could say why.
    They were bent on mischief.
  • Of a person, leading a life of crime.
  • (slang, football) inaccurate at shooting
    • That shot was so bent it left the pitch.
  • (colloquial, chiefly, US) Suffering from the bends
  • (slang) High]] from using both [[Cannabis, marijuana and alcohol.
    • Man, I am so bent right now!
    Synonyms
    * (folded) crooked * (homosexual) queer
    Derived terms
    * bent as a nine-bob note
    Related terms
    * (determined) hellbent

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An inclination or talent.
    • He had a natural bent for painting.
  • A predisposition to act or react in a particular way.
    • His mind was of a technical bent .
  • The state of being curved, crooked, or inclined from a straight line; flexure; curvity.
    • the bent of a bow
    (Wilkins)
  • A declivity or slope, as of a hill.
    • (Dryden)
  • Particular direction or tendency; flexion; course.
  • * John Locke
    • bents and turns of the matter
  • (carpentry) A transverse frame of a framed structure.
  • Tension; force of acting; energy; impetus.
  • * Norris
    • the full bent and stress of the soul
    Synonyms
    * (an inclination or talent) disposition, predilection, proclivity, propensity

    Etymology 2

    Origin uncertain. Apparently representing (etyl) (term) (attested only in place-names and personal names), cognate with Old High German binuz (modern German ).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Any of various stiff or reedy grasses.
  • * Drayton
    • His spear a bent , both stiff and strong.
  • * 1888 , Rudyard Kipling, ‘The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes’, The Phantom ’Rickshaw and Other Tales , Folio Society 2005, p. 121:
    • Gunga Dass gave me a double handful of dried bents which I thrust down the mouth of the lair to the right of his, and followed myself, feet foremost [...].
  • * 1913 ,
    • Clusters of strong flowers rose everywhere above the coarse tussocks of bent .
  • A grassy area, grassland.
  • * The Ballad of Chevy Chase
    • Bowmen bickered upon the bent .
    English irregular past participles English irregular simple past forms ----

    bunt

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The middle part, cavity, or belly of a sail; the part of a furled sail which is at the center of the yard.
    • The bunt of the sail was green.
  • (baseball, softball) A ball that has been intentionally hit softly so as to be difficult to field, sometimes with a hands-spread batting stance or with a close-hand, choked-up hand position. No swinging action is involved.
    • The bunt was fielded cleanly.
  • (baseball, softball) The act of bunting
    • The manager will likely call for a bunt here.
  • (aviation) The second half of an outside loop, from level flight to inverted flight.
  • A fungus (Ustilago foetida ) affecting the ear of cereals, filling the grains with a foetid dust; pepperbrand.

    • See also

    * ("bunt" on Wikipedia)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (baseball) to intentionally hit softly with a hands-spread batting stance
    • Jones bunted the ball.
  • (baseball) to intentionally hit a ball softly with a hands-spread batting stance
    • Jones bunted .
  • (aviation) to perform (the second half of) an outside loop.
    • We had heard that there was an elite group of three or four pilots in Jodhpur called the "Bunt Club", who had successfully bunted their aircraft - that is, carried out the second half of an outside loop. In the Bunt, you pushed the nose down, past the vertical and still further, until you were in horizontal inverted flight, and came out on the other side and rolled it out.
  • (nautical) To swell out.
    • The sail bunts .
  • (rare, of a cat) To headbutt affectionately.