bending

Founding-era definition · Webster's 1828 American Dictionary

BEND'ING, participle present tense Incurvating; forming into a curve; stooping subduing; turning as a road or river; inclining; leaning; applying closely, as the mind; fastening.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI

More founding-era words: liberty · virtue · republic · justice · providence · commerce · militia · arms · prudence · establishment · religion · usurpation · tyranny · citizen · unalienable · sovereign