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mend Definition

mend (mend)

transitive verb

  1. to repair (something broken, torn, or worn); restore to good condition; make whole; fix
  2. to make better; improve; reform; set right to mend one's manners
  3. to atone for; make amends for: now only in least said, soonest mended

Etymology: ME menden, aphetic < amenden, amend

intransitive verb

  1. to get better; improve, esp. in health
  2. to grow together again or heal, as a fracture

noun

  1. the act of mending; improvement
  2. a mended place, as on a garment

Related Forms:

mend Idioms

on the mend

improving, esp. in health
mend Synonyms

mend

v.

  1. To repair

    repair, patch, patch up, darn, sew, fix, restore, reconstruct, retouch, put in shape, heal, put back together, cobble, doctor*; see also reconstruct, repair, restore 3.

  2. To improve

    aid, remedy, cure; see correct 1, improve 1.

  3. Reform

    regenerate, behave, mend one's manners, mend one's ways; see improve 2, reform 3.

  4. To get well

    recover, respond to medication, knit; see heal 1, recover 3.

mend is the general word implying the making whole again of something that has been broken, torn, etc. to mend a toy, to mend a dress; repair, often equivalent to mend, is preferred when the object is a relatively complex one that has become damaged or decayed through use, age, exhaustion, etc. to repair an automobile, to repair a radio; patch and darn imply the mending of a hole, tear, etc., the former by inserting or applying a piece of similar material to patch a coat, to patch a tire, the latter by sewing a network of stitches across the gap to darn a sock

on the mend

getting better, recuperating, recovering; see improving.

mend Usage Examples

Object

  • puncture: Don't waste time trying to mend a puncture by the side of the road.
  • fence: One autumn day the farmer returned home from spending the day mending fences on the moorland edge.
  • rift: Not only did he have to pacify the tribes, but also mend rifts between the Roman legions.
  • ty: The two countries have been stepping up efforts to mend ties since reformist governments came to power in Zagreb and Belgrade in 2000.
  • leak: Hope they've mended the leak in the dressing room ceiling!
  • clothes: The making of their own and children's apparel, and mending clothes for both sexes, young and old.

Converse of object

  • make: Helen's Spiritualist friends say that during his visits to her cell Prime Minister Churchill made promises of making mends to Helen.

Subject

  • kindness: A fractured world is mended by the kindness of strangers.
  • mean: Whichever, my disordered mind takes great comfort in seeing stationary secured, sealed or mended by means of transparent cellulose.

Modifying Another Word

  • soon: We have a few bruises which will soon mend.
  • never: They mend the streets, but they never mend anything that is about us or belongs to us.
  • well: They are often in good condition and can be very well mended and becoming very silver once again.
  • now: The ligament reconstruction went well and I'm on the mend now.
  • n't: He does n't mend things that aren't broken.
  • not: Having a reconstruction will not mend sexual problems with a partner or change the way they feel about you.

Used with why or when

  • when: A puncture was quickly mended when everyone lent a hand or tool to the process.
  • what: I'll send him a message he'll understand that I'll mend what I have done.

Preposition: in

  • time: The neck, just above the handle join, has been broken and mended in modern times.

Preposition: by

  • kindness: A fractured world is mended by the kindness of strangers.
  • mean: Whichever, my disordered mind takes great comfort in seeing stationary secured, sealed or mended by means of transparent cellulose.
mend Quotes

This world is bad enough maybe; We do not comprehend it; But in one fact can all agree God won't, and we can't mend it.

—Clough, Arthur Hugh

Browse dictionary entries near mend

  1. Mencken
  2. Mencius
  3. menarche
  4. Menander
  5. Menam
  6. Menai Strait
  7. menagerie
  8. menage
  9. Menado
  10. menadione
  1. mendable
  2. mendacious
  3. mendaciously
  4. mendaciousness
  5. mendacities
  6. mendacity
  7. Mende
  8. mended
  9. Mendel
  10. Mendel's laws