bend the law

bend the law

To do something that does not technically break the law but could be considered inappropriate or unfair. A: "Come on, a little bit of speeding is just bending the law." B: "Yeah, I think a police officer would disagree with that." They can't arrest me for just bending the law!
See also: bend, law
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

bend the law

 and bend the rules
Fig. to cheat a little bit without breaking the law. (Jocular.) I didn't break the rules. I just bent the rules a little. Nobody ever got arrested for bending the law.
See also: bend, law
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

bend the law

tv. to cheat a little bit without breaking the law. (Jocular.) I didn’t break the law. I just bent the law a little.
See also: bend, law
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • in default of
  • in default of (something)
  • in default of something
  • pardon my French
  • excuse my French
  • excuse/pardon my French
  • french
  • better left unsaid
  • bring (something) to rest
  • bring to rest
References in periodicals archive
Detectives Brett Ridgeman (Mel Gibson) and Anthony Lurasetti (Vince Vaughn) bend the law they are supposed to uphold.
The Indian government might be able to bend the law and courts in occupied-Kashmir according to its whim; it cannot go scot-free by playing proxies and sabotaging peace in its neighbouring country.
He warned that EHOs can also have their license revoked, should they try to bend the law.
The officers are accused of soliciting bribes from drivers to allow them to bend the law
Police chief Bill Parker (Nick Nolte) is powerless to stop the rise of Cohen's criminal fraternity so he approaches Sergeant John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) to establish a covert team of officers, who are willing not only to bend the law but also to break it in order to restore law and order.
"The government wants to bend the law against the workers' interests and undermine their right to strike which is guaranteed by the constitution," he said.
With localized and partial martial law confined to Mindanao, with his strong-arm assertiveness and control of Congress, the bureaucracy, and the military, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte tends to bend the law without breaking it, or violating the Constitution.
The fear of God is finally being instilled among those with the tendency to bend the law in pursuit of personal greed, how else would one describe the urge to block a natural river just to get rent!
Though the law forbids sex-selective abortions, Indian parents are able to find medics who will bend the law to their advantage.
From someone who is very vocal about his willingness to bend the law in the name of peace and order, this statement does not only contradict the President himself, but even his propeople pronouncements.
The question of whether Emil will bend the law to fit his grief is answered with subtlety, logic, and great compassion for the character.
We cannot bend the law just to accommodate [last-minute] voters," Cortes said.
It is the early 1990s, and there is no real marriage equality movement, no viable legal protection; as a clerk says while shuffling the paperwork for their benefits application, "This domestic partnership thing is new." So new that local officials disregard it, sanctimoniously denying the request of a dying woman to transfer her benefits to her same-sex partner--even as they bend the law to collect multiple pensions for themselves.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoy-an is a very effective demagogue and through all these means of propaganda, he has convinced millions of his followers and staunch believers that for the sake of politics, one can tell lies, cheat people, bend the law, insult opponents, sling mud at them, resort to cronyism, destroy nature, abuse religion for political purposes and forget morality for personal, familial, communal and political gain.
The Foreign Secretary assured us GCHQ does not use the US program for Home Affairs, Justice and Equalities to bend the law around our safeguards.