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mend (mĕnd)
Share:
v. mend·ed, mend·ing, mends
v.tr.
1. To make repairs or restoration to; fix.
2. To reform or correct: mend one's ways.
v.intr.
1.
a. To improve in health or condition: The patient is mending well.
b. To heal: The bone mended in a month.
2. To make repairs or corrections.
n.
1. The act of mending: did a neat mend on the sock.
2. A mended place: You can't tell where the mend is.
Idioms:
mend fences
To improve poor relations, especially in politics: "Whatever thoughts he may have entertained about mending some fences with [them] were banished" (Conor Cruise O'Brien).
on the mend
Improving, especially in health.
[Middle English menden, short for amenden, to amend; see AMEND.]
menda·ble adj.
mender n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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