depended; depending; depends
1
: to be determined, based, or contingent (see contingent entry 1 sense 1)
life depends on food
the value of Y depends on X
2
: to be pending or undecided
matters of greatest moment were depending—
John Milton
John Milton3
a
: to place reliance or trust
you can depend on me
b
: to be dependent especially for financial support
Her family depends on her paycheck.
still depends on his parents
4
: to hang down
a star was depending from his neck—Arnold Bennett
Arnold BennettExamples of depend in a Sentence
whether or not we play baseball will depend on how much rain we get
I know I can always depend on you for help when I really need it.
Recent Examples on the Web
The future path of egg prices will depend on the administration's ability to get a grip on the bird flu crisis.
—Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 May 2025
Astronauts depend on music, auditory cues and ambient feedback to stay focused and grounded.
—Harshal Shah, Forbes.com, 13 May 2025
One is not safer than the other—tolerance to the medications largely depends on the patient.
—Julia Ries, Health, 13 May 2025
However, because of these strengths, their viability depends enormously upon what kind of data they have been trained on.
—Maria Williams, USA Today, 13 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for depend
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Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 May 2025
Astronauts depend on music, auditory cues and ambient feedback to stay focused and grounded.
—Harshal Shah, Forbes.com, 13 May 2025
One is not safer than the other—tolerance to the medications largely depends on the patient.
—Julia Ries, Health, 13 May 2025
However, because of these strengths, their viability depends enormously upon what kind of data they have been trained on.
—Maria Williams, USA Today, 13 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for depend
Cite this Entry
“Depend.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/depend. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
depend
verb
de·pend
di-ˈpend 
1
: to be determined by or based on
success of the picnic will depend on the weather
2
: trust entry 2 sense 1a, rely
a person you can depend on
3
: to rely for support
children depend on their parents
4
: to hang down
a vine depending from a tree
Etymology
Middle English dependen "to exist or result from some other condition," from early French dependre (same meaning), derived from Latin dependēre "to hang down, hang from," from de- "from, down" and pendēre "to hang" — related to pendulum, perpendicular
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