I. ˈtend verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English tenden, short for attenden to attend
intransitive verb
1. archaic : to give ear : listen
tend to the master's whistle — Shakespeare
2. : to pay attention : apply oneself
you mind your business, and I'll tend to mine — Evelyn Barkins
3. : to act as an attendant or servant : serve , wait
never closed an eye watching and tending in his house — Walter Macken
4. obsolete : to be waiting : await
the time invites you, go, your servants tend — Shakespeare
transitive verb
1. archaic : to attend as a servant : accompany in order to render service
had I not four or five women once that tended me — Shakespeare
2. chiefly dialect : to be present at : attend
3.
a. : to apply oneself to the care of : care for the wants of : minister to : watch over
tended him and ministered to his wants like an angel — C.B.Fairbanks
tending the destitute mothers and children — Winston Churchill
b. : to have or take charge of as a caretaker or overseer
a likely little citizen who … tends the family sheep — Irene Smith
c. : cultivate , foster
rice which has been specially planted and tended — J.G.Frazer
d. : to manage the operations of or do the necessary work connected with : mind
tended his textile mills — T.D.Parrish
quit to tend an open hearth — Time
tend store
tend bar
tend the fire
4. archaic : be attentive to : listen to
the stars that tend thy bidding — John Keats
•
- tend out on
II. intransitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English tenden, short for intenden, entenden to intend
dialect : intend , purpose
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English tenden, from Middle French tendre to stretch, stretch out, direct oneself toward a place, tend, from Latin tendere — more at thin
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to direct one's course or become moved in a particular direction
saw far in the north the misty outlines of the shore towards which they were tending — William Black
b. : to undergo change or development in a particular direction or toward a particular goal
the ideal toward which evolution continually tended — Roscoe Pound
the symptoms — where they were tending, where they were bound to end — disturbed him — J.G.Cozzens
c. : to extend in a certain direction
the foot of each sail is tending aft at quite an angle — All Hands
2.
a. : to have an inclination to a particular quality, aspect, or state
modern hive design tends to simplicity — F.D.Smith & Barbara Wilcox
many marine invertebrates tend towards transparency or a bluish coloration — W.H.Dowdeswell
b. : to have an inclination toward a particular belief, feeling, or attitude
he tends to deny the moral content in human affairs — Norman Cousins
painters tend to rejoice in the commonplace — David Sylvester
3. : to exert activity or influence in a particular direction : serve as a means : conduce
the reduction of reserve requirements will tend to ease business borrowing — Nation's Business
not true that any advance in the scale of culture inevitably tends to the preservation of society — A.N.Whitehead
4. of a ship : to swing with the tide or wind while anchored
intransitive verb
1. : to manage (an anchored vessel) so as to prevent fouling of the cable
2. : to stand by (as a rope) in readiness to prevent fouling or other mischance
has a lifeline round him which is tended inboard — Manual of Seamanship
IV. noun
( -s )
: the angle made by the line of a ship's keel and the direction of the anchor cable when the ship is swinging at anchor
signaling with a flashlight the tend of the chain to the bridge — Chesley Wilson