ichidan verb, transitive verb
Only when written 曲げる
Physical use: to make something no longer straight, or to bend or incline a body part or object from its normal position. The object is marked with を.
針金を曲げて輪を作った。
I bent the wire and made a ring.
膝を曲げて、ゆっくり座ってください。
Bend your knees and sit down slowly.
ichidan verb, transitive verb
distort; twist; bend the truth
Figurative use for changing facts, truth, rules, or meaning in a dishonest or improper direction. 枉げる is a rare written form for this kind of moral or factual distortion.
彼は事実を曲げて報告した。
He distorted the facts in his report.
真実を曲げてまで彼をかばうつもりはない。
I do not intend to protect him by twisting the truth.
ichidan verb, transitive verb
yield a point; compromise a principle; depart from one's belief
Used with nouns such as 信念, 意志, 方針, 自説, or 主張 to mean giving way or acting against one's stated view, principle, or real intention.
彼女は最後まで自分の信念を曲げなかった。
She did not compromise her beliefs to the end.
会議で何度も反論されたが、彼は自説を曲げなかった。
He was challenged repeatedly at the meeting, but he did not yield his position.
ichidan verb, transitive verb
Rare use meaning to pawn something, roughly equivalent to 質に入れる. It is not the normal modern word for pawning an item.
古い言い方で、時計を質に曲げるとは時計を質に入れることをいう。
In an old expression, 時計を質に曲げる means to pawn a watch.