Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

bender

/ˈbɛndɚ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.40 in modern English

Syllables
ben-der
IPA
/ˈbɛndɚ/
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

One who, or that which, bends.

noun

A device to aid bending of pipes to a specific angle.

noun

A bout of heavy drinking or drug use.

Slang

noun

A homosexual man.

British usage; Derogatory; Slang

noun

A simple shelter, made using flexible branches or withies.

noun

A suspended sentence.

British usage; Slang

noun

A sixpence.

British usage; Obsolete; Slang

noun

A spree, a frolic.

American usage; Obsolete; Slang

Example Sentences

Etymology

Hypotheses: * bend + -er. In sense of “heavy drinking”, originally generally “spree”, from 1846, of uncertain origin – vague contemporary sense of “something extraordinary”, connection to bend (e.g., bending elbow to drink (bend one's elbow)) or perhaps from Scottish sense of “strong drinker”. * In Britain, for about four centuries, a sixpence was known as a bender because its silver content made it easy to bend in the hands. This was commonly done to create ‘love tokens’, many of which survive in collections to this day. The value of a sixpence was also enough to get thoroughly inebriated as taverns would often allow you to drink all day for two pence. This gave rise to the expression ‘going on a bender’. * (interjection): From over the bender, referring to a person's arm (and sometimes accompanied by a gesture of the thumb backward over the shoulder); compare over the left shoulder.

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈbɛndɚ/
  • British English: /ˈbɛndə/

Usage

Inflected Forms

benders (plural) Bendery (alternative)

Derived Forms

bumder hellbender mindbender spoonbender wirebender

Phrases

bagel bender banana-bender banana bender B-bender conduit bender elbow bender fender bender fender-bender

Synonyms

batter binge Tighina spree toot male homosexual bender tent bullshit I don't think not over the bender over the left

Rhymes With

gender defender tender surrender transgender vendor render offender lender contender slender blender

Questions

How do you pronounce bender?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈbɛndɚ/.
What does bender mean?
One who, or that which, bends.
Where does bender come from?
Hypotheses: * bend + -er. In sense of “heavy drinking”, originally generally “spree”, from 1846, of uncertain origin – vague contemporary sense of “something extraordinary”, connection to bend (e.g., bending elbow to drink (bend one's elbow)) or perhaps from Scottish sense of “strong drinker”. * In Britain, for about four centuries, a sixpence was known as a bender because its silver content made it easy to bend in the hands. This was commonly done to create ‘love tokens’, many of which survive in collections to this day. The value of a sixpence was also enough to get thoroughly inebriated as taverns would often allow you to drink all day for two pence. This gave rise to the expression ‘going on a bender’. * (interjection): From over the bender, referring to a person's arm (and sometimes accompanied by a gesture of the thumb backward over the shoulder); compare over the left shoulder.

How to pronounce bender

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “bender”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈbɛndɚ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “bender”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “bender” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.