Library / English Dictionary

MEND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of putting something in working order again

Synonyms:

fix; fixing; fixture; mend; mending; repair; reparation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("mend" is a kind of...):

improvement (the act of improving something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mend"):

darning (the act of mending a hole in a garment with crossing threads)

patching (the act of mending a hole in a garment by sewing a patch over it)

care; maintenance; upkeep (activity involved in maintaining something in good working order)

band aid; quick fix; quickie; quicky (hurried repair)

restoration (the act of restoring something or someone to a satisfactory state)

reconstruction (the activity of constructing something again)

restitution (the act of restoring something to its original state)

Derivation:

mend (restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Sewing that repairs a worn or torn hole (especially in a garment)

Example:

her stockings had several mends

Synonyms:

darn; mend; patch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("mend" is a kind of...):

sewing; stitchery (needlework on which you are working with needle and thread)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken

Example:

Repair my shoes please

Synonyms:

bushel; doctor; fix; furbish up; mend; repair; restore; touch on

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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

ameliorate; amend; better; improve; meliorate (to make better)

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

darn (repair by sewing)

heel; reheel (put a new heel on)

revamp; vamp (provide (a shoe) with a new vamp)

resole; sole (put a new sole on)

patch; patch up (mend by putting a patch on)

trouble-shoot; troubleshoot (solve problems)

point; repoint (repair the joints of bricks)

cobble (repair or mend)

patch; piece (repair by adding pieces)

fill (plug with a substance)

fiddle; tinker (try to fix or mend)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They mend the cape

Derivation:

mend (the act of putting something in working order again)

mender (a skilled worker who mends or repairs things)

mending (the act of putting something in working order again)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Heal or recover

Example:

My broken leg is mending

Synonyms:

heal; mend

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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

ameliorate; better; improve; meliorate (get better)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Credits

 Context examples: 

I have observed, Mrs. Elton, in the course of my life, that if things are going untowardly one month, they are sure to mend the next.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

But I told a man mending a hedge that it was Thornton Lacey, and he agreed to it.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

“Bellows to mend!” cried Jem Belcher.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

What can I do to mend it?

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Dr. Ferrier had just heard enough from the detective at the station to be able to give an idea of what had happened, and his story did not mend matters.

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

Marianne continued to mend every day, and the brilliant cheerfulness of Mrs. Dashwood's looks and spirits proved her to be, as she repeatedly declared herself, one of the happiest women in the world.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

He had not mended his ways nor his shirt, though the latter he contended he had changed.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

To-morrow will, I hope, mend all this; she will be herself at home in Exeter.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER) mends DNA regions that contain chemical adducts, such as UV-induced thymine dimers or carcinogenic adducts, which distort the DNA helix and interfere with replication and transcription.

(Nucleotide Excision Repair, NCI Thesaurus)

Even the honest hands must have caught the infection, for there was not one man aboard to mend another.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)