tend

verb (1)

\ ˈtend

tended; tending; tends

Definition of tend

(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1 : to exhibit an inclination or tendency : conduce tends to be optimistic

2 : to move, direct, or develop one's course in a particular direction cannot tell where society is tending

tend

verb (2)

tended; tending; tends

Definition of tend (Entry 2 of 2)

intransitive verb

1 : to pay attention : apply oneself tend to your own affairs tend to our correspondence

2 : to act as an attendant : serve tended to his wife

3 archaic : listen

4 obsolete : await

transitive verb

1a : to apply oneself to the care of : watch over tended her sick father

b : to have or take charge of as a caretaker or overseer tend the sheep

c : cultivate, foster

d : to manage the operations of : mind tend the store tend the fire

2 : to stand by (something, such as a rope) in readiness to prevent mischance (such as fouling)

3 archaic : to attend as a servant

Examples of tend in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Prices typically peak for the year during the summer, when people tend to drive more, and head lower toward the end of the year. — Paul R. La Monica, CNN, "Gas prices will climb following the Saudi attacks," 16 Sep. 2019 These typically tend to last longer since they're made to help stimulate natural collagen production but cannot be easily undone. — Sarah Wu, Glamour, "Your Ultimate Guide to Face Fillers," 16 Sep. 2019 Some sociology research suggests that this means that online dating has the potential to create couples from more diverse backgrounds than would tend to form in real life, possibly helping to reduce income inequality over time. — The Economist, "Facebook has unleashed a new dating service," 12 Sep. 2019 Stars without metals can’t shed material easily and tend to remain supermassive. — Quanta Magazine, "Long-Lived Stellar Blast Kindles Hope of a Supernova We’ve Never Seen Before," 12 Sep. 2019 When compared to fellow Texas cities, Houston fares well on the affordable lifestyle front, though not as well as places like San Antonio and Corpus Christi, where salaries tend to go a little further. — Darla Guillen Gilthorpe, Houston Chronicle, "How Houston's cost of living compares to other major cities," 4 Sep. 2019 Conformity can help explain why vaccine skeptics tend to cluster in certain communities. — Scientific American, "How Misinformation Spreads—and Why We Trust It," 3 Sep. 2019 As for the daylight scenes, where digital projection tends to struggle? — Peter Opaskar, Ars Technica, "Apocalypse Now Final Cut," 31 Aug. 2019 This amounts to 28 individuals, of whom the vast majority (71%) were born outside the U.S., where the likelihood for artistic support from government funding tends to be much higher. — Stacy L. Smith, Time, "Hollywood Has the Power to Combat Damaging Stereotypes About Latinos. Here's Proof That It's Utterly Failing," 27 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tend.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for tend

Verb (1)

Middle English tenden "to stretch, spread, direct oneself (to), incline toward," borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French tendre "to stretch, hold out, offer, direct (one's course), go, aim (at)," going back to Latin tendere "to extend outward, stretch, spread out, direct (one's course), aim (at a purpose)" (Medieval Latin, "to lead toward, move in a particular direction") — more at tender entry 3

Verb (2)

Middle English tenden, shortened from attenden "to attend" or entenden, intenden "to intend"

Keep scrolling for more