tend Hear it!

tend¹ Definition

tend (tend)

transitive verb

  1. to take care of; minister to; watch over; look after; attend to to tend plants or animals, to tend the sick
  2. to be in charge of or at work at; manage or operate to tend a store
  3. Naut. to be on the alert to keep (a rope, diver's air line, etc.) from fouling

Etymology: ME tenden, aphetic < attenden: see attend

intransitive verb

to pay attention; attend

tend¹ Idioms

tend on

to wait upon; serve

tend² Definition

tend (tend)

intransitive verb

  1. to be directed; proceed or extend the road tends south
  2. to have an inclination, tendency, bias, etc. to do something; incline tending to overeat
  3. to lead or be directed (to or toward a specified result)

Etymology: ME tenden < OFr tendre < L tendere, to stretch, extend, tend: see thin

tend Synonyms

tend

v.

  1. To watch over

    care for, manage, direct, superintend, do, perform, accomplish, guard, administer, minister to, oversee, corral, wait upon, attend, serve, nurse, mind*; see also manage 1.

  2. To have a tendency (toward)

    conduce, lead, point, direct, make for, result in, serve to, be in the habit of, favor, be disposed toward, be predisposed to, be biased in favor of, be prejudiced in favor of, be apt to, gravitate toward, incline to, verge on.

tend Usage Examples

Object

  • garden: B reakfast is taken in the dining room overlooking the well tended garden.
  • herd: When he was about fifteen years old, he was kidnaped by Irish pirates and reduced to slavery to tend herds for six years.
  • wound: The Fighter/Thief has his wounds tended and healed by Clerics using heal Spells, so that he is ready for combat again.
  • crop: Many farmers and farm workers are too ill to tend the crops, exacerbating the problem of food production.
  • expansion: Rows and cheap online car insurance quote of expansions tended to.
  • fire: They were instrumental in the ceremonies, tending the altar fires, and offering prayers to Mithra at dawn, noon and dusk.

Infinitive complement

  • focus: Many policies tend to focus on enhancing people's income by growing the economy.
  • concentrate: However, it has tended to concentrate on lower risk asset classes.
  • occur: However, lucid dreams do tend to occur in periods of higher cortical arousal.
  • think: I tend to think much less about it than I used to.
  • forget: Tends to forget all advice given once things go wrong.
  • favor: For a start I wish they would both drive in the crosses rather than float them in which tends to favor the keeper.

Modifying Another Word

  • lovingly: But Karen added: " Many of the graves have been lovingly tended and decorated in a special way by doting parents.
  • inevitably: In practice they have lower contributions which inevitably tend to yield a lower income for people when they retire.
  • therefore: The atom we are interested in will therefore tend to carry either a partial positive charge or form a positive ion.
  • generally: Each series of paintings generally tend to be linked with a particular theme, idea or color palette.
  • also: They also tend to have a lighter, softer texture.
  • unfortunately: Men unfortunately tend to go to their doctor later rather than sooner once they find something wrong.

Preposition: in

  • direction: Control allocation of coarse grains might well tend in that direction.
  • favor: A prosecution will usually take place unless " there are public interest factors tending against prosecution which clearly outweigh those tending in favor " .