LEND (lent)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: lent   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does lend mean? 

• LEND (verb)
  The verb LEND has 3 senses:

1. bestow a quality on

2. give temporarily; let have for a limited time

3. have certain characteristics of qualities for something; be open or vulnerable to

  Familiarity information: LEND used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LEND (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they lend    ... he / she / it lends   
Past simple: lent   
Past participle: lent   
-ing form: lending   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Bestow a quality on

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

add; bestow; bring; contribute; impart; lend

Context example:

This adds a light note to the program

Hypernyms (to "lend" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lend"):

factor (be a contributing factor)

instill; transfuse (impart gradually)

tinsel (impart a cheap brightness to)

throw in (add as an extra or as a gratuity)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give temporarily; let have for a limited time

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

lend; loan

Context example:

loan me some money

Hypernyms (to "lend" is one way to...):

give (transfer possession of something concrete or abstract to somebody)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lend"):

farm out; hire out; rent out (grant the services of or the temporary use of, for a fee)

trust ((chiefly archaic) extend credit to)

advance (pay in advance)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sentence examples:

They lend cars to the tourists
They lend the tourists their cars

Antonym:

borrow (get temporarily)

Derivation:

lendable (available for lending)

lender (someone who lends money or gives credit in business matters)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Have certain characteristics of qualities for something; be open or vulnerable to

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

The current system lends itself to great abuse

Hypernyms (to "lend" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

 Context examples 

“My dear Copperfield,” returned Traddles, smiling, “I haven't got anything to lend.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

However, gravity data collected during the spacecraft's several close passes over the south polar region lent support to the possibility the sea might be global.

(Cassini Finds Global Ocean in Saturn's Moon Enceladus, NASA)

"Let me mend them," said I. "I don't mind it, and he needn't know. I'd like to, he's so kind to me about bringing my letters and lending books."

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

"Come on, Matt, lend a hand," the newcomer called the dog-musher, who had followed him into the ring.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Lead study author Bülent Kiziltan, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) and his team found this one by measuring motions of pulsars within the cluster.

(Elusive Middleweight Black Hole Found at Center of Giant Star Cluster, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Cholesterol lends stability to the membrane, which is actually a double layer of lipid — or fat — molecules.

(Researchers Zero-In on Cholesterol's Role in Cells, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

“And we mean to treat you all,” added Lydia, “but you must lend us the money, for we have just spent ours at the shop out there.”

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

He read more of Swinburne than was contained in the volume Ruth had lent him; and "Dolores" he understood thoroughly.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Don Pedro accompanied me to the ship, and lent me twenty pounds.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The red planet will join Saturn (long-term gain), Pluto (power), and Jupiter (fantastic good fortune), lending quite a bit of planetary power to support your every move.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)