mend

noun

(uncountable) Chiefly in on the mend: improvement in health; recovery from illness.

(countable) An act of repairing.

(countable) A place in a thing (such as a tear in clothing) which has been repaired.

Senses relating to improvement or repairing.

(obsolete, uncountable) Recompense; restoration or reparation, especially (Christianity) from sin.

verb

(transitive) To physically repair (something that is broken, defaced, decayed, torn, or otherwise damaged).

(transitive) (figurative) To correct or put right (an error, a fault, etc.); to rectify, to remedy.

(transitive) (figurative) To put (something) in a better state; to ameliorate, to improve, to reform, to set right.

(intransitive) (figurative) Of an illness: to become less severe; also, of an injury or wound, or an injured body part: to get better, to heal.

(intransitive) (figurative) Of a person: to become healthy again; to recover from illness.

(transitive) (figurative) To add fuel to (a fire).

(transitive) (figurative) To remove fault or sin from (someone, or their behaviour or character); to improve morally, to reform.

(transitive) (figurative) In mend one's pace: to adjust (a pace or speed), especially to match that of someone or something else; also, to quicken or speed up (a pace).

(transitive) (figurative) (archaic) To correct or put right the defects, errors, or faults of (something); to amend, to emend, to fix.

(transitive) (figurative) (archaic) To increase the quality of (someone or something); to better, to improve on; also, to produce something better than (something else).

(transitive) (figurative) (archaic) To make amends or reparation for (a wrong done); to atone.

(transitive) (figurative) (archaic except UK, regional) To restore (someone or something) to a healthy state; to cure, to heal.

(transitive) (obsolete) (figurative) To add one or more things in order to improve (something, especially wages); to supplement; also, to remedy a shortfall in (something).

(transitive) (obsolete) (figurative) To relieve (distress); to alleviate, to ease.

(transitive) (obsolete) (reflexive, figurative) To reform (oneself).

(transitive) (obsolete) (also reflexive, figurative) To improve the condition or fortune of (oneself or someone).

(intransitive) (figurative) (chiefly Scotland) To become morally improved or reformed.

(intransitive) (obsolete) (figurative) To advance to a better state; to become less bad or faulty; to improve.

(intransitive) (obsolete) (figurative) To improve in amount or price.

(intransitive) (obsolete) (figurative) Of an error, fault, etc.: to be corrected or put right.

(intransitive) (obsolete) (figurative) Followed by of: to recover from a bad state; to get better, to grow out of.

(intransitive) (obsolete) (Northern Ireland, Scotland, figurative) Of an animal: to gain weight, to fatten.

(intransitive) (obsolete) (Scotland, figurative) To advantage, to avail, to help.

(transitive) (obsolete) To adjust or correctly position (something; specifically (nautical), a sail).

(transitive) (obsolete) To put out (a candle).

(transitive) (obsolete) (England, regional) To repair the clothes of (someone).

(transitive) (obsolete) (Northern Ireland, Scotland, figurative) To cause (a person or animal) to gain weight; to fatten.

(transitive) (obsolete) (Scotland, figurative) Chiefly with the impersonal pronoun it: to provide a benefit to (someone); to advantage, to profit.

(intransitive) (figurative) (archaic) Now only in least said, soonest mended: to make amends or reparation.

(intransitive) (obsolete) Chiefly used together with make: to make repairs.

Roots

mendamend- · Latin · fault, free from fault

Synonyms for mend

repairn healv fixv restorev patchn reconditionv rectifyv rebuildv recuperatev darnn rehabilitatev refurbishv recoverv reconstructv

Synonyms & related words for mend

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of mend — including repair, heal, fix, restore, patch, recondition. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to mend

Explore words related to mend — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include unmended, mendable, reparation, refix, patchable, reparatory, unrepairable, repairable. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for mend

Common synonyms for mend include repair, heal, fix, restore, patch, recondition, rectify, rebuild — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does mend come from?

The word mend breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root mend-, from Latin menda (“fault, free from fault”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.