to flex

Examples

• All

• I looked at my face in the mirror and noticed my jaw muscles flexing away.

  Fiction book (1993)

• It started flexing the frame.

  Fast Company (1979)

• If the housing and arm were to flex, the needle could easily crash into the base.

  Academic text (1999)

• But Ichthyostega could have readily flexed its body up and down.

  Academic text (2006)

• Every second or so, Hayden flexed his toe up, then down.

  Fiction book (1998)

• The four fingers flex about both the MP joints and the proximal IP joints.

  Academic text (1995)

• The left arm is close to the body... the forearm flexed at a right angle... resting across the abdomen.

  From Hell (2001)

• Harold ran for the bus, his stiff leather shoes making a terrible squeaking sound as they flexed against the asphalt.

  Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

• Then its caudal fin flexed and it darted into concealment, its wake upsetting the placid diver.

  Fiction book (1994)

• To improve your flexibility, try to flex your knees as you reach for your toes.

Synonyms

B

to bend

vsto flex

268 1.0

To make something curved instead of straight

is used mainly for bending objects, joints, or limbs

A

to arch

vsto flex

17 3.7

To bend into a curved shape

is more general, meaning any curving not limited to that raised supported form

A

to arc

vsto flex

3 4.4

To move in a smooth curved path, like lightning across the sky

often refers to bending in place rather than moving along a path

Antonyms

S

to straighten

114 2.5

Make something straight and in the right position

Idioms

F

to flex one's muscle

• Informal

8 6.8

To show power to frighten or control others

Compounds

F

flex harrow

• Specialized

8.6

A farm tool with spring teeth on a flexible frame that removes weeds from fields

How Bent

to contort

17 7.5

to fold

220 1.0

to flex

17 3.2

to bend

268 1.0

Surface Forms

Etymology