bent on

bent on (doing something)

Very determined to do something, perhaps aggravatingly so. She's bent on coming here for the weekend, so we better clean the guest room. I'm bent on getting an A on this exam, so I've been studying all week. Once Nancy's bent on doing something, no one can stop her.

See also: bent, on

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

bent on

Also, bent upon. Determined, resolved, as in Jamie is bent on winning the math prize. This phrase, first recorded in 1762, always uses the past participle of the verb bend in the sense of "tend toward."

See also: bent, on

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.