Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to allow oneself to be corrupted.

1928		M.C. Sharpe Chicago May (1929) 160: There is nothing easier than to threaten to tell, and nothing easier than to actually tell the employer, and have the man given the air, if he does not bend as desired.
1970		G.F. Newman Sir, You Bastard 136: Atkinson wouldn’t bend now at any price.
2007		N. ‘Razor’ Smith Raiders 53: There was a big investigation into corruption in the Vice Squad [...] and a new mob came in who weren’t prepared to be bent.

2. (US Und.) to steal.

1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks.
1936		San Quentin Bulletin in L.A. Times 6 May 7: BEND, to steal.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 26/1: Bend. (Near South, close to Atlantic coast) To steal, especially automobiles.
1960		(con. 1950-1960) R.A. Freeman Dict. Inmate Sl. (Walla Walla, WA) 8: Bend – to steal.
1989		J. Morton Lowspeak 23: Bend – 2. to steal.

3. (also bend backwards) to pervert, to corrupt, to commit some form of fraudulent manoeuvre, esp. as in losing a race deliberately, bribing a police officer or a sporting competitor.

1930		Amer. Mercury XXI. 454/2: Bend, v.: To steal. ‘We bend a boat to hist the hooch’ .
1946		J. Evans Halo in Blood (1988) 19: What’s the belch, friend? Am I supposed to have bent a law?
1954		Wodehouse Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit 102: Similar upheavals occur when it is the little woman who is caught bending.
1959		J. Blake letter 26 May in Joint (1972) 137: He backs off for few cons, but the local Savonarola can bend him with a glance.
1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS.
1962		R. Cook Crust on its Uppers 66: The bent punters who are supposed to be bending the game pour la maison.
1989		J. Morton Lowspeak 23: Bend – 3. to distort, as in evidence; Bend backwards – to persuade a witness or defendant to change his mind.
2000		J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 18: Mister El [...] introduced me to solicitors and mortgage brokers who could be bent.

4. (US) to kill.

1989

J. Morton Lowspeak 23: Bend – 1. to kill.