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Unbending   /ˌənbˈɛndɪŋ/   Listen
verb
Unbend  v. t.  (past & past part. unbent; pres. part. unbending)  
1.
To free from flexure; to make, or allow to become, straight; to loosen; as, to unbend a bow.
2.
A remit from a strain or from exertion; to set at ease for a time; to relax; as, to unbend the mind from study or care. "You do unbend your noble strength."
3.
(Naut.)
(a)
To unfasten, as sails, from the spars or stays to which they are attached for use.
(b)
To cast loose or untie, as a rope.



Unbend  v. i.  (past & past part. unbent; pres. part. unbending)  
1.
To cease to be bent; to become straight or relaxed.
2.
To relax in exertion, attention, severity, or the like; hence, to indulge in mirth or amusement.



adjective
Unbending  adj.  
1.
Not bending; not suffering flexure; not yielding to pressure; stiff; applied to material things. "Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main."
2.
Unyielding in will; not subject to persuasion or influence; inflexible; resolute; applied to persons.
3.
Unyielding in nature; unchangeable; fixed; applied to abstract ideas; as, unbending truths.
4.
Devoted to relaxation or amusement. (R.) "It may entertain your lordships at an unbending hour."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Unbending" Quotes from Famous Books



... homicide, and mob rule in the streets of Montreal. In the British House of Commons the whole matter was thoroughly discussed. Young Mr Disraeli, the dandified Jewish novelist, held that there were no rebels in Upper Canada, while young Mr Gladstone, 'the rising hope of those stern and unbending Tories,' proved that there were virtual rebels who would be rewarded for their treason under the Canadian statute. In a letter to The Times Hincks showed, in rebuttal, that rebels in Upper Canada had already received compensation by the Act of a Tory government. Who says A must also say ...
— The Winning of Popular Government - A Chronicle of the Union of 1841 • Archibald Macmechan

... jest came to him, with his tendencies and convictions, like an unconscious appeal and a divine suggestion. He was utterly unconventional, and while readily unbending into mirthfulness, he regarded life as an exceedingly serious thing. As the eyes of artist and poet catch glimpses of beauty where to others are only hard lines and plain surfaces, so strong religious temperaments ...
— From Jest to Earnest • E. P. Roe

... iron-grey hair, rose stiffly from her chair, and saluted the ladies with stern submission as they opened the door. A person of unblemished character, evidently—but not without visible drawbacks. Big bushy eyebrows, an awfully deep and solemn voice, a harsh unbending manner, a complete absence in her figure of the undulating lines characteristic of the sex, presented Virtue in this excellent person under its least alluring aspect. Strangers, on a first introduction to her, were accustomed to ...
— The Haunted Hotel - A Mystery of Modern Venice • Wilkie Collins

... character? Yes, if one changes one's body. It is possible for a man born blunderer, unbending and violent, being stricken with apoplexy in his old age, to become a foolish, tearful child, timid and peaceable. His body is no longer the same. But as long as his nerves, his blood and his marrow are in the same state, his nature will not change any more ...
— Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary • Voltaire

... wished they had not treated his first hospitable effort quite so formally, but as they stepped from the coach with unbending faces he led them, a little frightened, into the bar-room. Here, unfortunately, as he was barely able to reach over the counter, the barkeeper would have again overlooked him but for a quick glance from the dark man, which seemed to change ...
— A Waif of the Plains • Bret Harte


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