to be caught bending
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To be caught at a disadvantage. If you catch a small boy bending over it is easy to smack him on that portion of his anatomy provided by nature for the purpose.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to be caught bending” mean?
To be caught at a disadvantage. If you catch a small boy bending over it is easy to smack him on that portion of his anatomy provided by nature for the purpose.
Is “to be caught bending” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.