mend
See also: mënd
English
Etymology
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From Middle English menden, by apheresis for amenden (“to amend”); see amend.
Pronunciation
Noun
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
Translations
place or tear repaired in clothing
act of repairing
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Verb
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.
- (Can we date this quote?) Sir W. Temple
- The best service they could do the state was to mend the lives of the persons who composed it.
- (transitive) To help, to advance, to further; to add to.
- (Can we date this quote?) Mortimer
- Though in some lands the grass is but short, yet it mends garden herbs and fruit.
- (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare
- You mend the jewel by 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 […]
- (Can we date this quote?) Mortimer
- (intransitive) To grow better; to advance to a better state; to become improved.
Derived terms
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:repair
Translations
to repair
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to repair a tear in clothing
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to alter for the better; to set right; to reform; hence, to quicken
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To help, to advance, to further; to add to
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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. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Related terms
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Further reading
- “mend”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “mend”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “mend”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɛnd
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with quotations
- English intransitive verbs
- English ergative verbs