2. charitable, nonprofit, eleemosynary. benign, adj. 1. kind, good, good-hearted, warmhearted, humane, loving; kindly, kind-hearted, beneficent, benignant, benevolent; altruistic, unselfish, considerate, thoughtful; compassionate, tender, gentle, soft-hearted, merciful, ruthful; clement, lenient, temperate, mild, fatherly, motherly, paternal, maternal, brotherly, sisterly; neighborly, friendly, amicable, amiable, cordial, gracious, chivalrous; understanding, broad-minded, sympathetic, forbearant, tender-hearted.
2. favorable, propitious, auspicious, fair, promising; lucky, providential, timely, opportune; advantageous, beneficial, helpful, aidful, conducive.
3. (of weather) salutary, wholesome, salubrious, sal-utiferous, healthy; bracing, brisk, vigorous, strengthening, invigorating, animating; pleasant, pleasurable, balmy, refreshing, fair.
bent, adj. 1. crooked, flexed, bowed, twisted, contorted; curved, coiled, circled, curled, spiraled, looped; arched, inflected, vaulted, cambered.
2. determined, insistent, set, resolved, fixed, directed; disposed, predisposed, inclined, prone,, partial; moved, swayed.
-n.
3. inclination, disposition, predisposition, temperament, affection, mind, turn, aptness; tendency, conatus, appetency, propensity, proclivity, leaning, penchant, proneness; direction, trend; predilection, partiality, prejudice, bias, ply, twist, feeling; prepossession, fondness, attraction.
4. gift, flair, knack, genius; ability, capability, capacity, aptitude, endowment, faculty; competence, skill, adroitness, proficiency.
benumb, v. numb, desensitize, anesthetize; drug, narcotize, deaden; dull, blunt, obtund, Inf. take the edge off; muddle, obfuscate, confuse, bewilder; stun, stupefy, daze; shock, stagger, electrify; paralyze, hypnotize, mesmerize, Archaic, magnetize, petrify; freeze, chill.
bequeath, v. 1. will, dower, cede, leave to, make over to, Law. devise; consign, hand over, commit, entrust, turn over, transfer; apportion, allot, assign, distribute, dispense, pass out, dole out, mete out, deal out, divide, Inf. divvy up; endow, bestow, gift, present, give, donate, grant, confer upon, award, reward, render.
2. impart, hand down, hand on, pass on; send down, transmit, communicate.
bequest, n. 1. inheritance, patrimony, bequeathal, Law. legacy, Law. dower, Law. will, Law. devise, Civil Law. fideicommissum, Law. hereditament, Obs. dowry, Archaic, heritance; endowment, bestowal, donation, disposition, gift, present.
2. heritage, bequeathment, ancestry; history, past, background.
berate, v. 1. scold, chide, tongue-lash, rate, harangue, rant, curse, execrate, imprecate, anathematize; upbraid, objurgate, excoriate, lambaste, flay, fulminate against; castigate, chastise, berate, censure, criticize, reproach, rebuke, reprove, Inf. jump on, Inf. dress down, Inf. slam, Sl. jump all over, Sl. chew out, Inf. bawl out, Sl. strafe.