TEND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does tend mean? 

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

1. have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined

2. have care of or look after

3. manage or run

  Familiarity information: TEND used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TEND (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they tend    ... he / she / it tends   
Past simple: tended   
Past participle: tended   
-ing form: tending   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

be given; incline; lean; run; tend

Context example:

He inclined to corpulence

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

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

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

take kindly to (be willing or inclined to accept)

suffer (be given to)

gravitate (move toward)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

tendency (an attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others)

tendency (an inclination to do something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Have care of or look after

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

She tends to the children

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

attend; look; see; take care (take charge of or deal with)

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

garden (work in the garden)

shepherd (tend as a shepherd, as of sheep or goats)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

tender (someone who waits on or tends to or attends to the needs of another)

tending (the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Manage or run

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

tend a store

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

mind; take care (be in charge of or deal with)

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

stoke (stir up or tend; of a fire)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

It tends to run in families.

(Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, NIH: National Institute of Mental Health)

The limbs tend to remain in whatever position they are placed (waxy flexibility).

(Catalepsy, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Chordomas tend to recur and may metastasize.

(Chordoma, NCI Thesaurus)

Has not the general evidence since that date tended to—well, to strengthen his position?

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Your cholesterol levels tend to rise as you get older.

(Cholesterol, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

No, but I can't do it now, with two babies to tend.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

And outside he went, like a king, with all Sierra Vista about him and tending on him.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Children with hearing problems tend to do less well than their peers in terms of language development and academic performance.

(Mild-to-moderate hearing loss in children leads to changes in how brain processes sound, University of Cambridge)

It also tends to run in families.

(Mitral Valve Prolapse, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

May I ask to what these questions tend?

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)