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Glite Dictionary
to bend the rules

to bend the rules

12 4.9
To allow an exception to a rule to help someone
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : relajar las reglas
  • The teacher decided to bend the rules slightly to allow a student extra time for the exam.
  • bend the rules a little
  • bend the rules a bit
  • willing to bend the rules

You need somebody who is going to bend the rules, color outside the box.

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Examples

  • Feel free to email us documentation of these things; maybe we'll bend the rules if it's any good.

    Blog text (25)

  • I need Mavericks, dissidents, adventurers, outsiders, and rebels who ask questions, bend the rules, and take risks.

  • You need somebody who is going to bend the rules, color outside the box.

    Film Courage

  • - Come on, you can bend the rules just this once.

    Paramedics (2016)

  • Sometimes you need to bend the rules a little... ...in order to keep your country safe, right?

    J. Edgar (2011)

  • You can bend the rules.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • We're a small island, and we can bend the rules from time to time, so this is what I'm prepared to do.

    Long Lost Son (2006)

  • The nurses had said they would bend the rules and let her stay.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • And what they're trying to do is to ask you to bend the rules so that you can please him.

  • Well, sometimes you've got to bend the rules a little.

    The World's Fastest Indian (2005)

Synonyms

to contravene
vsto bend the rules
  • Formal
2 8.2

To break a law, rule, or agreement

is a milder deviation to allow an exception for a special circumstance

Antonyms

to enforce
417 4.1

Make people follow a law or rule using authority

to follow the rule
55 2.8

Do what a rule says

How Lenient

nonregulation
  • Formal
7.4
violation
418 4.1
to bend the rules
12 4.9

Surface Forms

bend the rules infinitive
bending the rules present participle
bends the rules third person singular
bent the rules past
bent the rules past participle

Morphology

bend + the + rule

The verb 'bend' (to curve or make flexible) applied to 'rules' transparently conveys the idea of making rules less strict or flexible, so a learner who knows both words can readily infer 'deviate from or relax regulations.' This physical-to-abstract metaphor is common and accessible across languages, making the expression immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

The idiom bend the rules comes from the image of a straight measuring rule that you bend so it is not straight anymore. So the phrase means 'to make a rule less strict' or 'to allow something that is usually not allowed' to help someone.