bend to one's will

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Also seen as: bend to someone's will

Sense 1

Meaning · English

To force someone to do what you want

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

bắt buộc ai đó làm theo ý mình

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: to bend something to one's desire
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

She was able to bend her team to her will and get the project done

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Sense 2

Meaning · English

Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English
Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review.

Common questions

What does “bend to one's will” mean?

To force someone to do what you want Literally: to bend something to one's desire

Is “bend to one's will” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.