"bend the truth" meaning in English

See bend the truth in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: en-au-bend the truth.ogg [Australia] Forms: bends the truth [present, singular, third-person], bending the truth [participle, present], bent the truth [participle, past], bent the truth [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|bend<,,bent> the truth}} bend the truth (third-person singular simple present bends the truth, present participle bending the truth, simple past and past participle bent the truth)
  1. (idiomatic) To change or leave out certain facts of a story or situation, generally in order to elicit a specific response in the audience. Tags: idiomatic Related terms: lie, stretch the truth Translations (change or leave out certain facts of a story): խեղաթյուրել իրականությունը (xeġatʿyurel irakanutʿyunə) (Armenian), 歪曲事實 [Mandarin] (Armenian), 歪曲事实 (wāiqū shìshí) [Mandarin] (Armenian), 扭曲事實 [Mandarin] (Armenian), 扭曲事实 (niǔqū shìshí) [Mandarin] (Armenian), ohýbat pravdu (Czech), de waarheid verdraaien (Dutch), venyttää totuutta (Finnish), déformer la vérité (French), sich die Wahrheit zurechtbiegen (German), dire una mezza verità [feminine] (Italian), distorcer a realidade (Portuguese), искажа́ть и́стину/пра́вду (iskažátʹ ístinu/právdu) [imperfective] (Russian), falsear (Spanish), bẻ cong sự thật (Vietnamese)

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for bend the truth meaning in English (5.7kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bends the truth",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bending the truth",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bent the truth",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bent the truth",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
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  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "bend<,,bent> the truth"
      },
      "expansion": "bend the truth (third-person singular simple present bends the truth, present participle bending the truth, simple past and past participle bent the truth)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Armenian terms with redundant script codes",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant script codes",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
            "Entry maintenance"
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        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "In relating the story to Julie, he decided to bend the truth just enough to make her think he had really been in danger."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1991 May 24, Larry Kahhan, “Gun-control groups shouldn't hail Brady Bill too early”, in Atlanta Journal Constitution, Letters to the Editor",
          "text": "In his warped attempt to bend the truth completely out of shape, ....",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1995 February 23, “Letters to the Post”, in Denver Post, Denver & the West, page B-06",
          "text": "In a Feb. 5 column, Dottie Lamm seemed quite happy to bend the truth in all directions",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001, Tom Clancy, The Bear and the Dragon",
          "text": "KGB had always been on the lookout for hard facts, but then reported those facts to people besotted with a dream, who then bent the truth in the service of that dream. When the truth had finally broken through, the dream had suddenly evaporated like a cloud of steam in a high wind, and reality had poured in like the flood following the breakup of an icebound river in springtime.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To change or leave out certain facts of a story or situation, generally in order to elicit a specific response in the audience."
      ],
      "id": "en-bend_the_truth-en-verb-I~llw59R",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To change or leave out certain facts of a story or situation, generally in order to elicit a specific response in the audience."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "lie"
        },
        {
          "word": "stretch the truth"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "hy",
          "lang": "Armenian",
          "roman": "xeġatʿyurel irakanutʿyunə",
          "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
          "word": "խեղաթյուրել իրականությունը"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Armenian",
          "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
          "tags": [
            "Mandarin"
          ],
          "word": "歪曲事實"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Armenian",
          "roman": "wāiqū shìshí",
          "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
          "tags": [
            "Mandarin"
          ],
          "word": "歪曲事实"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Armenian",
          "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
          "tags": [
            "Mandarin"
          ],
          "word": "扭曲事實"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Armenian",
          "roman": "niǔqū shìshí",
          "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
          "tags": [
            "Mandarin"
          ],
          "word": "扭曲事实"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
          "word": "ohýbat pravdu"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
          "word": "de waarheid verdraaien"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
          "word": "venyttää totuutta"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
          "word": "déformer la vérité"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
          "word": "sich die Wahrheit zurechtbiegen"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "dire una mezza verità"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
          "word": "distorcer a realidade"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "iskažátʹ ístinu/právdu",
          "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "искажа́ть и́стину/пра́вду"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
          "word": "falsear"
        },
        {
          "code": "vi",
          "lang": "Vietnamese",
          "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
          "word": "bẻ cong sự thật"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-bend the truth.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/49/En-au-bend_the_truth.ogg/En-au-bend_the_truth.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/En-au-bend_the_truth.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bend the truth"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bends the truth",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bending the truth",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bent the truth",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bent the truth",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "bend<,,bent> the truth"
      },
      "expansion": "bend the truth (third-person singular simple present bends the truth, present participle bending the truth, simple past and past participle bent the truth)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "lie"
    },
    {
      "word": "stretch the truth"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Armenian terms with redundant script codes",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English predicates",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual script codes",
        "Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "In relating the story to Julie, he decided to bend the truth just enough to make her think he had really been in danger."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1991 May 24, Larry Kahhan, “Gun-control groups shouldn't hail Brady Bill too early”, in Atlanta Journal Constitution, Letters to the Editor",
          "text": "In his warped attempt to bend the truth completely out of shape, ....",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1995 February 23, “Letters to the Post”, in Denver Post, Denver & the West, page B-06",
          "text": "In a Feb. 5 column, Dottie Lamm seemed quite happy to bend the truth in all directions",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001, Tom Clancy, The Bear and the Dragon",
          "text": "KGB had always been on the lookout for hard facts, but then reported those facts to people besotted with a dream, who then bent the truth in the service of that dream. When the truth had finally broken through, the dream had suddenly evaporated like a cloud of steam in a high wind, and reality had poured in like the flood following the breakup of an icebound river in springtime.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To change or leave out certain facts of a story or situation, generally in order to elicit a specific response in the audience."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To change or leave out certain facts of a story or situation, generally in order to elicit a specific response in the audience."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-bend the truth.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/49/En-au-bend_the_truth.ogg/En-au-bend_the_truth.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/En-au-bend_the_truth.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "hy",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "roman": "xeġatʿyurel irakanutʿyunə",
      "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
      "word": "խեղաթյուրել իրականությունը"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
      "tags": [
        "Mandarin"
      ],
      "word": "歪曲事實"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "roman": "wāiqū shìshí",
      "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
      "tags": [
        "Mandarin"
      ],
      "word": "歪曲事实"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "roman": "wāiqū shìshí",
      "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
      "tags": [
        "Mandarin"
      ],
      "word": "歪曲事实"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
      "tags": [
        "Mandarin"
      ],
      "word": "扭曲事實"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "roman": "niǔqū shìshí",
      "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
      "tags": [
        "Mandarin"
      ],
      "word": "扭曲事实"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "roman": "niǔqū shìshí",
      "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
      "tags": [
        "Mandarin"
      ],
      "word": "扭曲事实"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
      "word": "ohýbat pravdu"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
      "word": "de waarheid verdraaien"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
      "word": "venyttää totuutta"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
      "word": "déformer la vérité"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
      "word": "sich die Wahrheit zurechtbiegen"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "dire una mezza verità"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
      "word": "distorcer a realidade"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "iskažátʹ ístinu/právdu",
      "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "искажа́ть и́стину/пра́вду"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
      "word": "falsear"
    },
    {
      "code": "vi",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "sense": "change or leave out certain facts of a story",
      "word": "bẻ cong sự thật"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bend the truth"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 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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