bend sinister
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That in heraldry, a bend sinister indicates bastardy.
From New York Times • Dec. 19, 2019
An ordinary with its ends cut off, borne sinister as a mark of bastardy, and containing one fourth in breadth of the bend sinister; Ð called also bastard bar.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Webster, Noah
By what legitimatizing process the bend sinister was erased, and the marquisate preserved, we have hitherto been unable to ascertain.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 379, May, 1847 by Various
His descent was noble on one side, with or without the bend sinister, which he said he would never have disclaimed, had it been his, but which he did not happen to inherit.
From Essays in Little by Lang, Andrew
To which I could only reply, "Madam, I have never yet discovered the bend sinister on our escutcheon."