"bend the rules" meaning in English

See bend the rules in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: bends the rules [present, singular, third-person], bending the rules [participle, present], bent the rules [participle, past], bent the rules [past]
Etymology: A metaphor where, instead of breaking the rules, the rules are only being "bent", lessening the effect. Head templates: {{en-verb|bend<,,bent> the rules}} bend the rules (third-person singular simple present bends the rules, present participle bending the rules, simple past and past participle bent the rules)
  1. To do something that is not normally allowed but is also not explicitly prohibited. Synonyms: stretch the rules
    Sense id: en-bend_the_rules-en-verb-uY5dU7Bm Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for bend the rules meaning in English (1.5kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "A metaphor where, instead of breaking the rules, the rules are only being \"bent\", lessening the effect.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bends the rules",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bending the rules",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bent the rules",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bent the rules",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "bend<,,bent> the rules"
      },
      "expansion": "bend the rules (third-person singular simple present bends the rules, present participle bending the rules, simple past and past participle bent the rules)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2008, Robert A. Hinde, Bending the Rules: The Flexibility of Absolutes in Modern Life",
          "text": "Such a mechanism could preserve individuals with mainly prosocial inclinations by enabling them to bend the rules in minor ways without suffering from guilt and without losing out in competition with free-riders.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To do something that is not normally allowed but is also not explicitly prohibited."
      ],
      "id": "en-bend_the_rules-en-verb-uY5dU7Bm",
      "links": [
        [
          "allowed",
          "allowed"
        ],
        [
          "prohibited",
          "prohibited"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "stretch the rules"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "bend the rules"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "A metaphor where, instead of breaking the rules, the rules are only being \"bent\", lessening the effect.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bends the rules",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bending the rules",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bent the rules",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bent the rules",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "bend<,,bent> the rules"
      },
      "expansion": "bend the rules (third-person singular simple present bends the rules, present participle bending the rules, simple past and past participle bent the rules)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2008, Robert A. Hinde, Bending the Rules: The Flexibility of Absolutes in Modern Life",
          "text": "Such a mechanism could preserve individuals with mainly prosocial inclinations by enabling them to bend the rules in minor ways without suffering from guilt and without losing out in competition with free-riders.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To do something that is not normally allowed but is also not explicitly prohibited."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "allowed",
          "allowed"
        ],
        [
          "prohibited",
          "prohibited"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "stretch the rules"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "bend the rules"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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