noun
bends
behndz
noun
1
Informal name for decompression sickness, caused by surfacing too quickly from deep water.
"The diver was rushed to a hyperbaric chamber to treat the bends."
How to Use Bends
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe common name for decompression sickness in divers, caused by nitrogen bubbles forming in the blood after surfacing too fast.
Common pairings
get the bends
risk of the bends
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The diver was rushed to a hyperbaric chamber to treat the _____.
Etymology
So named because sufferers historically bent over in pain, a posture that also echoed a fashionable stooped walk of the era nicknamed "the Grecian bend."