v. de·pend·ed, de·pend·ing, de·pends v.intr. 1. To rely, especially for support or maintenance: Children must depend on their parents. 3. To be determined, influenced, or contingent: a grade depending on the results of the final exam. 4. To have a dependence: began to depend more and more on drugs. 5. Archaic To hang down: "And ever-living Lamps depend in Rows" (Alexander Pope). v.tr. Informal To be determined by, be influenced by, or be contingent on: "What happened?" "It depends who you ask." [Middle English dependen, to hang down, from Old French dependre, from Latin dēpendēre : dē-, de- + pendēre, to hang; see (s)pen- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] Usage Note: In standard writing, depend is followed by on or upon when indicating condition or contingency, as in It depends on who is in charge. Omission of the preposition is typical of casual speech. |
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