Library / English Dictionary

LEND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: lent   

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give temporarily; let have for a limited time

Example:

loan me some money

Synonyms:

lend; loan

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

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

give (transfer possession of something concrete or abstract to somebody)

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

farm out; hire out; rent out (grant the services of or the temporary use of, for a fee)

trust ((chiefly archaic) extend credit to)

advance (pay in advance)

Sentence frames:

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

Sentence examples:

They lend cars to the tourists

They lend the tourists their cars

Antonym:

borrow (get temporarily)

Derivation:

lendable (available for lending)

lender (someone who lends money or gives credit in business matters)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Bestow a quality on

Example:

This adds a light note to the program

Synonyms:

add; bestow; bring; contribute; impart; lend

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

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

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

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

factor (be a contributing factor)

instill; transfuse (impart gradually)

tinsel (impart a cheap brightness to)

throw in (add as an extra or as a gratuity)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Have certain characteristics of qualities for something; be open or vulnerable to

Example:

The current system lends itself to great abuse

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

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

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

Sentence frames:

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

Credits

 Context examples: 

For goodness’ sake, come down and lend me a hand.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Can you lend me a thousand?” he asked, almost in a whisper.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Irvine thrust between his lips the little finger of each hand and lent to her efforts a shrill whistling.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

A gene associated with the migratory patterns of golden-winged and blue-winged warblers could lend insight into the longstanding question of how birds migrate across long distances.

(New insights into genetic basis of bird migration, National Science Foundation)

I remember now seeing the letter E. comprised in your initials written in books you have at different times lent me; but I never asked for what name it stood.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Perhaps it would have been better if I had killed him, for he must, as you say, have lent a hand.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Oh! you may as well take back that tiresome book she would lend me, and pretend I have read it through.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Grant might now and then lend them the pony he sent to the post.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Sufficient for me to share the sport and lend my humble help to the capture without distracting that intent brain with needless interruption.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The Ghost swung around into the wind, and I finished my work forward in time to run aft and lend a hand with the mainsheet.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)