MEND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mend mean? 

• MEND (noun)
  The noun MEND has 2 senses:

1. sewing that repairs a worn or torn hole (especially in a garment)

2. the act of putting something in working order again

  Familiarity information: MEND used as a noun is rare.

• MEND (verb)
  The verb MEND has 2 senses:

1. restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken

2. heal or recover

  Familiarity information: MEND used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MEND (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Sewing that repairs a worn or torn hole (especially in a garment)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

darn; mend; patch

Context example:

her stockings had several mends

Hypernyms ("mend" is a kind of...):

sewing; stitchery (needlework on which you are working with needle and thread)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of putting something in working order again

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

fix; fixing; fixture; mend; mending; repair; reparation

Hypernyms ("mend" is a kind of...):

improvement (the act of improving something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mend"):

patching (the act of mending a hole in a garment by sewing a patch over it)

care; maintenance; upkeep (activity involved in maintaining something in good working order)

band aid; quick fix; quickie; quicky (hurried repair)

restoration (the act of restoring something or someone to a satisfactory state)

reconstruction (the activity of constructing something again)

restitution (the act of restoring something to its original state)

darning (the act of mending a hole in a garment with crossing threads)

Derivation:

mend (restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken)

• MEND (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they mend    ... he / she / it mends   
Past simple: mended   
Past participle: mended   
-ing form: mending   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

bushel; doctor; fix; furbish up; mend; repair; restore; touch on

Context example:

Repair my shoes please

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

ameliorate; amend; better; improve; meliorate (to make better)

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

darn (repair by sewing)

heel; reheel (put a new heel on)

revamp; vamp (provide (a shoe) with a new vamp)

resole; sole (put a new sole on)

patch; patch up (mend by putting a patch on)

trouble-shoot; troubleshoot (solve problems)

point; repoint (repair the joints of bricks)

cobble (repair or mend)

patch; piece (repair by adding pieces)

fill (plug with a substance)

fiddle; tinker (try to fix or mend)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They mend the cape

Derivation:

mend (the act of putting something in working order again)

mender (a skilled worker who mends or repairs things)

mending (the act of putting something in working order again)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Heal or recover

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

heal; mend

Context example:

My broken leg is mending

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

ameliorate; better; improve; meliorate (get better)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine in California found that a protein called "hedgehog" helped mend bones in diabetic mice by stimulating the activity of skeletal stem cells.

(Protein Discovery Could Help Heal Bones in Diabetics, VOA)

"Oh, yes; but one is never so pretty after being mended, you know," replied the Princess.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Feeling that she had not mended matters much, Amy took the offered third of a seat, shook her hair over her face, and accepted an oar.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“I am painfully situated, Utterson; my position is a very strange—a very strange one. It is one of those affairs that cannot be mended by talking.”

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

And when his hands are too trembly, and his eyes too shiny, why, I lecture him about his life and the wrong way he is going about it to mend it.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The man who is before us, his blanket harness breaks often, and he must stop and mend it.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

“YOU hold your tongue, mother,” he returned; “least said, soonest mended.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

As François’s whip backed him up, Buck found it to be cheaper to mend his ways than to retaliate.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

“The matter is not past mending,” said Alleyne.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Thank you—but I always mend my own.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)