TENDING • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Tending

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/tˈɛndɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Tend v. t. (O. Eng. Law) To make a tender of; to offer or tender. (Obs.)

Tend v. t. (past & past part. tended; pres. part. tending)

To accompany as an assistant or protector; to care for the wants of; to look after; to watch; to guard; as, shepherds tend their flocks. "And flaming ministers to watch and tend Their earthly charge." "There 's not a sparrow or a wren, There 's not a blade of autumn grain, Which the four seasons do not tend And tides of life and increase lend."

To be attentive to; to note carefully; to attend to. "Being to descend A ladder much in height, I did not tend My way well down."

To tend a vessel (Naut.), to manage an anchored vessel when the tide turns, so that in swinging she shall not entangle the cable.

Tend v. i.

To wait, as attendants or servants; to serve; to attend; with on or upon. "Was he not companion with the riotous knights That tend upon my father?"

To await; to expect. (Obs.)

Tend v. i.

To move in a certain direction; usually with to or towards. "Two gentlemen tending towards that sight." "Thus will this latter, as the former world, Still tend from bad to worse." "The clouds above me to the white Alps tend."

To be directed, as to any end, object, or purpose; to aim; to have or give a leaning; to exert activity or influence; to serve as a means; to contribute; as, our petitions, if granted, might tend to our destruction. "The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want." "The laws of our religion tend to the universal happiness of mankind."

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Etymology of 'Tending'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Tending" Quotes from Famous Books

... for criticism. As to politics, everything seems tending to repose; and I should think that by this day fortnight we shall probably be prorogued. The Jew Bill was thrown out yesterday night by the Lords. No matter. Our turn will come one of ...

— Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay • George Otto Trevelyan

... consenting and desiring the said execution; though the general and continual demands, prayers, counsels, and advice were in such things contrary to our natural inclination; yet, being convinced of the urgent weight of their continual intercessions tending to the safety of our person, and also to the public and private state of our realm, we have at last consented and suffered that justice have its course, and for its execution, considering the singular confidence we have in your fidelity and loyalty together for the ...

— CELEBRATED CRIMES, COMPLETE - MARY STUART--1587 • ALEXANDRE DUMAS, PERE

... tending to it at once. I know just how it is with men—they have got to have that little refreshment ... don't you call it 'life preserver'? I'll be right by the counter; if Mr. Makimmon will ...

— Mountain Blood - A Novel • Joseph Hergesheimer

... apply the theory of evolution to spiritual life, as well as to bodily life, we must apply it in the same way. We must regard the various forms, in the one case as in the other, as following different lines, and tending in different directions from a common centre, rather than as different and successive sections of one and the same line. Spell no more becomes prayer than vegetables become animals. Impelled by the force of calamity to look in one direction—that of deliverance ...

— The Idea of God in Early Religions • F. B. Jevons

... Catholic priest, intent on securing a convert for his Order, had been plying his young mind with too exciting conversations and too refreshing wines. Apart from external circumstances, Alec was tending to quarrel with humanity at large, and so he went the whole hog, more in search of a desperate ideal than by way of impetuous sin. Mr. WILKINSON treats the affair with deliberate, cold-blooded, even cynical analysis; and his portrayal ...

— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 159, September 1st, 1920 • Various

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