bentwood

noun

1. (attributive, countable, sometimes, uncountable)Lengths of wood that have been made pliable by heating with steam and then bent into the appropriate shape (to make furniture, ships' hulls, etc.).

   “Bentwood furniture is made by bending and nailing long, straight, fresh branches or suckers of trees around a frame. Unlike most stick work, bentwood furniture is carefully planned before it is made.”

2. (countable)An object, especially a piece of furniture, made from bentwood.

   “The two basic types of fishhooks are almost equally represented within the site, with composite fishhooks exhibiting only a slightly higher relative frequency than that of bentwoods.”

   “She started walking over to the trestle table and, about ten years later, sat down on one of the thirty-three bentwoods.”

   “Catherine Holt of Cobweb (a store known for great antiques at tiny prices) has assembled a kind of United Nations of kitchen and dining room chairs. She has turn-of-the-century cafe bentwoods from Spain, Austria, and Czechoslovakia; vintage teak sidechairs from Java; provincial rush-seated chairs from France; and painted bentwoods from Buenos Aires, along with contemporary lattice-backs from Morocco and chairs with stamped seats from Egypt.”