Library / English Dictionary

DEPEND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Have faith or confidence in

Example:

Depend on your family in times of crisis

Synonyms:

bank; bet; calculate; count; depend; look; reckon; rely; swear

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "depend" is one way to...):

trust (have confidence or faith in)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

dependency (the state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be contingent upon (something that is elided)

Example:

That depends

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "depend" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "depend"):

hang by a hair; hang by a thread (depend on a small thing or be at risk)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

dependant; dependent (contingent on something else)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Treatment depends on which problem you have.

(Adrenal Gland Disorders, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

The severity of this condition can vary from mild anemia to death, depending on the number of genes deleted.

(Alpha Thalassemia, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Symptoms can vary, depending upon which organs are affected.

(Amyloidosis, NIH)

On the contents of that letter depended all which this world could do for her.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Prognosis and treatment depend on type and stage of the cancer.

(B-cell lymphoma, NCI Dictionary)

If they would only put off their scheme till Tuesday, which they might easily do, as it depended only on themselves, she could go with them, and everybody might then be satisfied.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

In an animal model, Azalanstat lowered serum cholesterol in a dose-depended manner.

(Azalanstat, NCI Thesaurus)

There are many different types of B-cell lymphomas, and prognosis and treatment depend on the type and stage of cancer.

(B-Cell Neoplasm, NCI Dictionary)

He particularly built upon a very happy summer and autumn there this year; he felt that it would be so: he depended upon it; a summer and autumn infinitely superior to the last.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Treatment for back pain depends on what kind of pain you have, and what is causing it.

(Back Pain, NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)