tend S1 W1 /tend/ BrE AmE verb
[ Sense 1, 3, 5: Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: tendre 'to stretch' , from Latin tendere ]
[ Sense 2, 4: Date: 1100-1200 ; Origin: attend ]
1 . tend to do something if something tends to happen, it happens often and is likely to happen again:
People tend to need less sleep as they get older.
My car tends to overheat in the summer.
2 . ( also tend to somebody/something ) [transitive] old-fashioned to look after someone or something:
Sofia was in the bedroom tending to her son.
3 . tend towards something to have one particular quality or feature more than others:
Charles tends towards obesity.
4 . tend bar especially American English to work as a ↑ bartender
5 . [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] formal to move or develop in a particular direction
tend upwards/downwards
Interest rates are tending upwards.