How to Use bend/stretch the rules in a Sentence

bend/stretch the rules

idiom
  • But Chen and his colleagues found a way to bend the rules.
    K. N. Smith, Discover Magazine, 16 June 2015
  • This shows that the Sorcerer Supreme is willing to bend the rules.
    Chris Smith, BGR, 2 Sep. 2022
  • Like campers everywhere, those at Camp Green Glades play pranks and try to bend the rules.
    Washington Post, 24 Nov. 2021
  • But the Recording Academy, to its credit, didn’t bend the rules to give him an award.
    Paul Grein, Billboard, 30 Dec. 2022
  • There are also new powers showcased in the film, as the characters manage to bend the rules of the Matrix.
    Richard Newby, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2021
  • But as with pretty much any rule that governs big-time college sports off the field, people soon found ways to bend the rules.
    Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press, 22 May 2022
  • Danny is often rigid and hellbent on delivering justice — and isn’t afraid to bend the rules to do so.
    Keith Langston, Peoplemag, 16 Feb. 2024
  • Jones did not hesitate to bend the rules, which worked well for him until he was convicted of income tax evasion.
    Tom Dillard, Arkansas Online, 14 Dec. 2020
  • In some important ways, Johnson and his closest ministers have echoed Trumpian tactics meant to bend the rules of democracy and fan the fires of the culture wars.
    Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2021
  • The producers are allowed to bend the rules, however, and decided Monday to stick with two hosts to fill the substantial shoes of the late Alex Trebek.
    Cliff Pinckard, cleveland, 25 July 2022
  • History is rife with rich people wielding their wealth to bend the rules of polite society in their favor.
    Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 13 May 2022
  • But Navaroli’s testimony reveals that Twitter, at least, was willing to bend the rules to give world leaders much more wiggle room.
    Tori Otten, The New Republic, 8 Feb. 2023
  • Passengers have been unknowingly pampered by ride-share customs that adjust to their needs and bend the rules.
    Corina Knoll, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
  • The report noted that the administration would seek to employ people who are loyal and willing to bend the rules of the government.
    Samuel Schaffer, Washington Examiner, 10 Dec. 2023
  • In this spin-off of the hit show Design Star, Hamilton rose to the top by impressing many of the judges each week with her use of materials and ability to bend the rules within design trends.
    Jada Jackson, House Beautiful, 1 Apr. 2021
  • At least this version will encourage him to bend the rules without upsetting the entire family.
    Cailey Lindberg, Good Housekeeping, 24 Oct. 2022
  • With the school year in full swing and cases soaring among children, pediatricians have been inundated with requests to bend the rules and give children a shot now.
    Compiled Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 21 Sep. 2021
  • The sovereign individual or group has the power to bend the rules and take advantage of the unsovereign individual.
    Rufas Kamau, Forbes, 12 Apr. 2022
  • The album, and its novel method of release, became a global news story, demonstrating the power of superstars on social media to corral their fans and bend the rules of the business to their favor.
    New York Times, 16 June 2022
  • But enforcement of sanctions on everything else is up to individual nations, which can amend or bend the rules for their own economic needs.
    Robin Wright, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2022
  • He’s being aided in his attack by an attorney general who is set to bend the rules and allow the Justice Department to take actions that would interfere with the election itself.
    Garrett M. Graff, Wired, 1 Nov. 2020
  • Getting a timely test can require extensive research, multiple calls, asking clinics to bend the rules and accept a drop-in appointment, or simply the cash to pay for a rapid test that insurance might not cover.
    oregonlive, 7 Jan. 2022
  • But in the midterm elections, voters across the country rejected the most prominent Republican candidates who embraced false claims about American elections and promised to bend the rules to their party’s advantage.
    Reid J. Epstein, New York Times, 26 Dec. 2022
  • Not only do politicians sometimes stretch the rules in the run-up to elections, but foreign actors aiming to disrupt the process often run operations on social media aiming to spread disinformation.
    Oliver Darcy, CNN, 28 Oct. 2022
  • The designer’s first foray into furniture design (Ganz has so far specialized in graphic design, art direction, and product design on a more intimate scale) shows a willingness to bend the rules.
    Camille Okhio, ELLE Decor, 30 Nov. 2022
  • A couple of the entries below will bend the rules to encapsulate several titles, either a reflection of critical spinelessness or a refutation of the idea that this year was anything but another flagship one for gaming.
    Clayton Purdom, Chron, 8 Dec. 2022
  • While mythical monsters acted as warnings to women not to transgress society’s restrictive expectations of them as wives and mothers, some women still chose to bend the rules to their own advantage — or disregard them altogether.
    Rachel Ashcroft, Longreads, 17 Sep. 2022
  • Inspired by photographers who bend the rules of conventional photography, Gatland has developed her own artistic sense by utilizing different techniques and playing with light and color.
    Chloe Liu, CNN, 22 Apr. 2022
  • Teams of national security officials, secretaries and military aides who share responsibility for keeping top-level executives informed — and the executives themselves — may bend the rules for convenience, expediency or sometimes due to carelessness.
    Jill Colvin, Anchorage Daily News, 25 Jan. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bend/stretch the rules.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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