Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BEND, n.

1. A curve; a crook; a turn in a road or river; flexure; incurvation.
2. In marine language, that part of a rope which is fastened to another or to an anchor. [See To bend, No.8.]
3. Bends of a ship, are the thickest and strongest planks in her sides, more generally called wales. They are reckoned from the water, first, second or third bend. They have the beams, knees, and foot hooks bolted to them, and are the chief strength of the ship's sides. – Encyc. Mar. Dict.
4. In heraldry, one of the nine honorable ordinaries, containing a third part of the field, when charged, and a fifth, when plain. It is made by two lines drawn across from the dexter chief, to the sinister base point. It sometimes is indented, ingrailed, &c. – Johnson. Encyc.