| / English Dictionary |
TENDING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something
Example:
the old car needs constant attention
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("tending" is a kind of...):
work (activity directed toward making or doing something)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tending"):
health care; healthcare (the preservation of mental and physical health by preventing or treating illness through services offered by the health profession)
tree surgery (treatment of damaged or decaying trees)
faith cure; faith healing (care provided through prayer and faith in God)
skin care; skincare (care for the skin)
personal care (care for someone who is disabled or is otherwise unable to care for themselves; can including bathing and cooking and managing bodily functions)
nurturance (physical and emotional care and nourishment)
tender loving care; TLC (considerate and solicitous care)
nursing (the work of caring for the sick or injured or infirm)
nourishment (the act of nourishing)
pedicure (professional care for the feet and toenails)
manicure (professional care for the hands and fingernails)
livery (the care (feeding and stabling) of horses for pay)
incubation (maintaining something at the most favorable temperature for its development)
intervention; treatment (care provided to improve a situation (especially medical procedures or applications that are intended to relieve illness or injury))
first aid (emergency care given before regular medical aid can be obtained)
dental care (care for the teeth)
pet sitting (the work of a pet sitter; caring for pets in their own home while their owners are away from home)
baby sitting; babysitting (the work of a baby sitter; caring for children when their parents are not home)
maternalism (motherly care; behavior characteristic of a mother; the practice of acting as a mother does toward her children)
hair care; haircare; hairdressing (care for the hair: the activity of washing or cutting or curling or arranging the hair)
Derivation:
tend (have care of or look after)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(usually followed by 'to') naturally disposed toward
Example:
I am not minded to answer any questions
Synonyms:
apt; disposed; given; minded; tending
Classified under:
Similar:
inclined ((often followed by 'to') having a preference, disposition, or tendency)
III. (verb)
Sense 1
-ing form of the verb tend
Context examples:
A unit of surface tension defined as the stretching force required to form a liquid film, tending to minimize the area of a surface, equal to one newton per unit length of the film equal to one meter.
(Newton per Meter, NCI Thesaurus)
When I was first married, I used to long for my new clothes to wear out or get torn, so that I might have the pleasure of mending them, for I got heartily sick of doing fancywork and tending my pocket handkerchief.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Daylight began to forsake the red-room; it was past four o'clock, and the beclouded afternoon was tending to drear twilight.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Elinor avoided it upon principle, as tending to fix still more upon her thoughts, by the too warm, too positive assurances of Marianne, that belief of Edward's continued affection for herself which she rather wished to do away; and Marianne's courage soon failed her, in trying to converse upon a topic which always left her more dissatisfied with herself than ever, by the comparison it necessarily produced between Elinor's conduct and her own.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
I am a man quite unaccustomed to observe; and I cannot but believe that the observation of several people, of different ages and positions, all too plainly tending in one direction (and that so natural), is better than mine.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
She knew it was so, and was sorry; but it was with a sorrow so founded on satisfaction, so tending to ease, and so much in harmony with every dearest sensation, that there are few who might not have been glad to exchange their greatest gaiety for it.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
I saw a red wet seam gape suddenly through the black hair, and next instant we were flying alone down the road, whilst the four-in-hand had halted, and Sir John and his lady were down in the road together tending to the wounded horse.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He had learned his part—all his parts, for he took every trifling one that could be united with the Butler, and began to be impatient to be acting; and every day thus unemployed was tending to increase his sense of the insignificance of all his parts together, and make him more ready to regret that some other play had not been chosen.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
He went for a fortnight—a fortnight of such dullness to the Miss Bertrams as ought to have put them both on their guard, and made even Julia admit, in her jealousy of her sister, the absolute necessity of distrusting his attentions, and wishing him not to return; and a fortnight of sufficient leisure, in the intervals of shooting and sleeping, to have convinced the gentleman that he ought to keep longer away, had he been more in the habit of examining his own motives, and of reflecting to what the indulgence of his idle vanity was tending; but, thoughtless and selfish from prosperity and bad example, he would not look beyond the present moment.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
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