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

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

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

That a market should be held upon the Sabbath in this city, is a "bend sinister" upon its escutcheon.

From The South-West By a Yankee. In Two Volumes. Volume 2 by Ingraham, Jonathon Holt

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