BEND

bend, (1) (from old eng. _bendan_), a bending or curvature, as in "the bend of a river," or technically the ribs or "wales" of a ship. (2) (from old eng. _bindan_, to bind), a nautical term for a knot, the "cable bend," the "fisherman's bend." (3) (from the old fr. _bende_, a ribbon), a term of heraldry, signifying a diagonal band or stripe across a shield from the dexter chief to the sinister base; also in tanning, the half of a hide from which the thinner parts have been trimmed away, "bend-leather" being the thickest and best sole-leather.