bends

1 definition • 5 examples

a serious medical condition that divers (= people who swim underwater) get when they come up to the surface of the water too quickly:

On the way up, divers stop at various depths in order to prevent the bends.

Many of the men who dive here for a living suffer from the bends.

I had worked as a diver for over a decade before I got the bends.

The bends affect the nerve endings very badly.

The bends, caused by decompressing too fast, can be fatal.