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

The bend sinister is the same breadth as the bend dexter, and is drawn from the sinister to the dexter side of the shield.

From The Manual of Heraldry; Fifth Edition Being a Concise Description of the Several Terms Used, and Containing a Dictionary of Every Designation in the Science by Anonymous

All these families bear the arms described by your correspondent, but without the bend sinister.

From Notes and Queries, Number 51, October 19, 1850 by Various

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

He even showed her his complicated coat-of-arms, which included a bend sinister, for he had royal blood in his veins; and this slanting rod interested Isabel as deeply as the moat under the window.

From Ancestors A Novel by Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn