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DEPEND UPON
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Put trust in with confidence
Example:
you can rely on his discretion
Synonyms:
depend on; depend upon; rely on; rely upon
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Sense 2
Meaning:
Be contingent on
Example:
Your grade will depends on your homework
Synonyms:
depend on; depend upon; devolve on; hinge on; hinge upon; ride; turn on
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "depend upon"):
build on; build upon; repose on; rest on (be based on; of theories and claims, for example)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Context examples:
You may depend upon it, sir, he told Mr. Utterson: I have him in my hand.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Mitochondria depend upon genes within the nucleus for many essential messenger RNAs.
(Mitochondrion, NCI Thesaurus)
And one thing I might depend upon, that they would certainly tell me the truth, for lying was a talent of no use in the lower world.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
I may then depend upon this child being received as a pupil at Lowood, and there being trained in conformity to her position and prospects?
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Do all your successes depend upon this prodigious power of bluff?
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Their most trivial action may mean volumes, or their most extraordinary conduct may depend upon a hairpin or a curling tongs.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
You don't depend upon wife-beaters and pickpockets for your income.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
But what can we do with him? said the shepherd, he has not a tooth in his head, and the thieves don’t care for him at all; to be sure he has served us, but then he did it to earn his livelihood; tomorrow shall be his last day, depend upon it.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Whether it is logical now to teach the people to be peaceful in an age when their very existence may come to depend upon their being warlike, is a question for wiser heads than mine.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I also drew up a note, to be given to any white merchant or captain of a steam-boat whom the Indian could find, imploring them to see that ropes were sent to us, since our lives must depend upon it.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
