TENDING • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Tending

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/tˈɛndɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Tend v. t. (O. Eng. Law) To make a tender of; to offer or tender. (Obs.)

Tend v. t. (past & past part. tended; pres. part. tending)

To accompany as an assistant or protector; to care for the wants of; to look after; to watch; to guard; as, shepherds tend their flocks. "And flaming ministers to watch and tend Their earthly charge." "There 's not a sparrow or a wren, There 's not a blade of autumn grain, Which the four seasons do not tend And tides of life and increase lend."

To be attentive to; to note carefully; to attend to. "Being to descend A ladder much in height, I did not tend My way well down."

To tend a vessel (Naut.), to manage an anchored vessel when the tide turns, so that in swinging she shall not entangle the cable.

Tend v. i.

To wait, as attendants or servants; to serve; to attend; with on or upon. "Was he not companion with the riotous knights That tend upon my father?"

To await; to expect. (Obs.)

Tend v. i.

To move in a certain direction; usually with to or towards. "Two gentlemen tending towards that sight." "Thus will this latter, as the former world, Still tend from bad to worse." "The clouds above me to the white Alps tend."

To be directed, as to any end, object, or purpose; to aim; to have or give a leaning; to exert activity or influence; to serve as a means; to contribute; as, our petitions, if granted, might tend to our destruction. "The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want." "The laws of our religion tend to the universal happiness of mankind."

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Etymology of 'Tending'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Tending" Quotes from Famous Books

... set off for the stable to get Harry Mule, while Paul waited for the making up of a train of empty cars, in which he was to ride to the junction near the blacksmith's shop. There Derrick was to meet him, take him to his post of duty, and tell him about opening and closing the door, and tending the switch of which he was to ...

— Derrick Sterling - A Story of the Mines • Kirk Munroe

... the end of the last Crusade when Italy began to produce the inspired artists who broke the bonds of Byzantine traditions and turned back to the inspiration of all art, which is Nature. Giotto, tending his sheep, began to draw pictures of things as he saw them, Savonarola awoke the conscience, Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio—a string of names to conjure with—all roused the intellect. The dawn of the Renaissance flushed Europe with the life of civilisation. ...

— The Tapestry Book • Helen Churchill Candee

... soldiers for toys, but very few provisions, so that we were forced to pay away this gold again to our mariners for fish, as otherwise we should have been reduced to absolute want. Cortes was perfectly aware of this private traffic, which however he considered as tending to advance his own schemes, although he carefully concealed his opinions on the subject; but the adherents of Velasquez began to express much displeasure at the practice, and demanded of Cortes to take such measures as might bring all the gold into a public stock under the charge of a common ...

— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. III. • Robert Kerr

... none of the party: even of the thirty: being able to keep their feet for six paces together, the ladies are taken out of their litters, and placed, each between two careful persons; while others of the thirty hold by their skirts, to prevent their falling forward—a necessary precaution, tending to the immediate and hopeless dilapidation of their apparel. The rather heavy gentleman is abjured to leave his litter too, and be escorted in a similar manner; but he resolves to be brought down ...

— Pictures from Italy • Charles Dickens

... the relative clause is limiting or defining: as, the man that runs fastest wins the race; but who or which when it is descriptive or co-ordinating: as, this man, who ran fastest, won the race; but, though present usage is perhaps tending in the direction of such a distinction, it neither has been nor is a rule of English speech, nor is it likely to become one, especially on account of the impossibility of setting that after a preposition; ...

— Practical Exercises in English • Huber Gray Buehler

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