mend
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See also: mënd
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English menden, by apheresis for amenden (“to amend”); see amend.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
mend (plural mends)
- A place, as in clothing, which has been repaired by mending.
- The act of repairing.
- My trousers have a big rip in them and need a mend.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
place or tear repaired in clothing
act of repairing
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Verb[edit]
mend (third-person singular simple present mends, present participle mending, simple past and past participle mended)
- (transitive) To repair, as anything that is torn, broken, defaced, decayed, or the like; to restore from partial decay, injury, or defacement.
- My trousers have a big rip in them and need mending.
- When your car breaks down, you can take it to the garage to have it mended.
- (transitive) To alter for the better; to set right; to reform; hence, to quicken; as, to mend one's manners or pace.
- Her stutter was mended by a speech therapist.
- My broken heart was mended.
- 1685, William Temple, Of Gardens
- [they] therefore thought all the Service they could do to the State they live under , was to mend the Lives and Manners of particular Men that composed it
- (transitive) To help, to advance, to further; to add to.
- 1707, John Mortimer, The whole Art of Husbandry, in the way of Managing and Improving of Land
- Though in some lands the grass is but short, yet it […] mends garden herbs and fruit.
- c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act 1, scene 1]:
- You mend the jewel by the wearing it.
- 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
- But my lord was angry, and being disguised with liquor too, he would not let him go till they played more; and play they did, and the luck still went the same way; and my lord grew fierce over it, and cursed and drank, and that did not mend his luck you may be sure […]
- 1707, John Mortimer, The whole Art of Husbandry, in the way of Managing and Improving of Land
- (intransitive) To grow better; to advance to a better state; to become improved.
Derived terms[edit]
Synonyms[edit]
- See also Thesaurus:repair
Translations[edit]
to repair
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to repair a tear in clothing
to alter for the better; to set right; to reform; hence, to quicken
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to grow better; to advance to a better state; to become improved
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Related terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- mend in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- mend in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911.
- mend at OneLook Dictionary Search
Categories:
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *mend-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English 1-syllable words
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- English lemmas
- English nouns
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