Bocht

1. bend, curve, turn [noun] [de bocht, de bochten]

Examples:
– "Pas op voor de scherpe bocht!"
("Watch out for the sharp turn/bend!")

– "Volg de weg met de bocht mee naar links."
("Follow the road bending to the left." Literally: "…along with the bend to the left.")

– "Als je daar te hard rijdt, vlieg je uit de bocht."
("If you drive too fast there, you will go off the road." Literally: "…you will fly out of the bend (in the road).")

– "Er zit een rare bocht in die waterleiding."
("There’s a strange curve in that water conduit.")

Expressions:
– "Zich in allerlei bochten wringen":
1. <uncomfortable:> to wriggle.
2. <from pain:> to writhe.
3. <metaphorical:> to squirm.

Example:
"Frank heeft zich in allerlei bochten moeten wringen om de projectleider tevreden te stellen."
(<something like:> "Frank had to go through all sorts of trouble to make the project leader happy.")

– "Kort door de bocht": over-simplified. Literally: "Short through the bend".

– "De bocht afsnijden": to cut off the corner.

Example: for some reason the Dutch like to joke about the Belgians. A common – and bad – joke is:
"Waarom heeft een Belg altijd een mes in zijn auto?" – "Om de bocht af te snijden!"
("Why does a Belgian always keep a knife in his car?" – "To cut the corner!")

Related words:
– "Buigen": to bend, to bow.
– "Hoek": corner.

2. rubbish, cheap drink [noun] [het/de bocht, <no plural>]

In this context the word "bocht" is only used for bad (alcoholic) drinks, especially wine.

Example:
– "Die wijn is bocht! Het lijkt wel azijn…Bah!"
("That wine is god-awful! It tastes like vinegar…Yuck!" Literally: "…It seems like vinegar (all right)…")