mend

verb

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

   “My trousers have a big rip in them and need mending.”

   “When your car breaks down, you can take it to the garage to have it mended.”

   “[H]e [Jesus] ſawe other two brethren, James the ſonne of Zebede, and Jhon his brother, in the ſhip with Zebede their father, mendynge their nettes, and called them. And they without tarynge lefte yͤ ſhyp and their father, and folowed hym.”

   “[A] fellow mending the tiles just when the fire broke out, saw a pot with wildfire in the room.”

   “Then, Betsey, my dear, run into the kitchen, and see if Rebecca has put the water on; and tell her to bring in the tea-things as soon as she can. I wish we could get the bell mended—but Betsey is a very handy little messenger.”

2. (figuratively, transitive)To add fuel to (a fire).

   “[I]n, you Rogue, and vvipe the pigges, and mend the fire, that they fall not, or I'le both baſte and roaſt you, till your eyes drop out, like 'hem.”

   “He mended the fire and turned the meat on the greenwood racks.”

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

   “Dro[mio of Syracuse]. […] [S]he ſvveats a man may goe ouer-ſhooes in the grime of it. / Anti[pholus of Syracuse]. That's a fault that vvater vvill mend.”

   “[Y]ou muſt examine vvhere the fault is, and taking the Pin out mend the fault in the Joynt.”

   “It is a mean want of fortitude in a good man, not to be able to do a virtuous action with as much confidence as an impudent fellow does an ill one. There is no way of mending such false modesty, but by laying it down for a rule, that there is nothing shameful but what is criminal.”

   “I can sleep weel aneugh mysel out-bye beside the naig, as I hae done money a lang night on the hills, but how ye are to put yoursels up, I canna see! And, what's waur, I canna mend it; […]”

   “This old Francesco Cenci, as you know, / […] left me so / In poverty, the which I sought to mend / By holding a poor office in the state.”

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

   “Her stutter was mended by a speech therapist.”

   “My broken heart was mended.”

   “So neyther is one vertue fit for all, nor all fit for one vertue: nor is that one ſo excellent, but by more it might be mended: […]”

   “Tacitus obſerueth hovv rarely raiſing of the fortune mendeth the diſpoſition, […]”

   “Some Vegetables [when burned] loſe their Smell, as Roſes; others, keep it, as Roſemary; and others, mend it, as Lignum Aloes, […]”

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

   “Youle not endure him, god ſhall mend my ſoule, / Youle make a mutinie among my gueſts: […]”

   “I vvould thou vvert a mans tailer, that thou mightſt mend him and make him fit to goe, I cannot put him to a priuate ſouldier, that is the leader of ſo many thouſands, […]”

   “[Philosophers] therefore thought all the Service they could do to the State they live under, vvas to mend the Lives and Manners of particular Men that compoſed it.”

   “Good council rejected returns to enrich the giver's boſom; and though the inſtruction I communicate may not mend them, yet it vvill aſſuredly mend myſelf.”

   “God mend all, I pray— / And keep us from all wrongdoing and wild words.”

6. (figuratively, transitive)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).

   “Cudgell thy braines no more about it, for your dull aſſe vvill not mend his pace vvith beating, […]”

   “When children to the school at morn did pass / With basket-store, thou [a goat] mendedst then thy pace, / And boldly into every school-bag spied / With insolent but inoffensive pride, / Till, bit by bit, the morning lunch was thine, / And off you sauntered as the clock struck nine.”

   “But though I mended my pace, I was only just in time to see them turn into - of all places - my hotel.”

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

   “Salt Earth and bitter are not fit to ſovv, / Nor vvill be tam'd or mended vvith the Plough.”

   “[W]here Marle is not laid too thick, nor is of too tough binding cold a quality, it vvill often mend Clays, eſpecially Grazing ground, […]”

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

   “[N]ay he can ſing / A meane moſt meanely, and in huſhering, / Mende him vvho can, the Ladies call him ſvveete.”

   “Beleeu't deere Lord, / You mend the Ievvell by the vvearing it.”

   “[William] Shakespear[e], in Hamlet, made a drama of the self-questioning that came upon him when his intellect rose up in alarm, as well it might, against the vulgar optimism of his Henry V., and yet could mend it to no better purpose than by the equally vulgar pessimism of Troilus and Cressida.”

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

   “Yee may sir, (quoth he), mend three nayes with one yee.”

   “Come, come, you haue bin too rough, ſomthing too rough: you muſt returne, and mend it.”

10. (figuratively, regional, transitive)To restore (someone or something) to a healthy state; to cure, to heal.

    “Yearly thy Herds in vigour vvill impair; / Recruit and mend 'em vvith thy Yearly care: […]”

    “We have had terrible rains these two or three days. I intended to dine at lord treasurer's, but went to see lady Abercorn, who is come to town, and my lord; and I dined with them, and visited lord treasurer this evening. His porter is mending.”

    “O, it was a rich scene,—but Sir A—— C——, the best of story-tellers and surgeons, who mends a lame narrative almost as well as he sets a fracture, alone could do justice to it— […]”

    “[H]ot July was drawing to an end, / And August came the fainting year to mend / With fruit and grain; […]”

    “If we were making no progress with Haraldsen's business we were at any rate mending his health.”

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

    “VVhy he vvill looke vppon his boote, and ſing: mend the Ruffe and ſing, aske queſtions and ſing, picke his teeth, and ſing: I knovv a man that had this tricke of melancholy hold a goodly Mannor for a ſong.”

    “[Y]our Crovvnes avvay,^([sic – meaning awry?']) / Ile mend it, and then play— […]”

    “Mend your lights, Gentlemen. [Stage direction in the margin:] The Tiremen enter to mend the lights.”

    “Guiſe. […] Your Air, your Meen, your Charms, your every Grace, / VVill Kill at leaſt your thouſand in a day. / Mar[moutier]. […] Yes, I vvou'd make vvith every Glance a Murder. / Mend me this Curle.”

    “He therefore turned the hands up, "mend sails," and took his station amidship on the booms, to see that this, the most delinquent sail, was properly furled.”

12. (obsolete, transitive)To put out (a candle).
13. (figuratively, obsolete, transitive)To add one or more things in order to improve (something, especially wages); to supplement; also, to remedy a shortfall in (something).

    “VVill you goe vvith me, vvee'll mend our dinner here?”

    “Roſ[alind]. […] Buy thou the Cottage, paſture, and the flocke, / And thou ſhalt haue to pay for it of vs. / Cel[ia]. And vve vvill mend thy vvages: / I like this place, and vvillingly could / VVaſte my time in it.”

    “Sometimes vvhite Lyllies did their Leaves afford, / VVith vvholſom Polly-flovv'rs, to mend his homely Board: […]”

    “I was forced to lie down at twelve to day, and mend my night's sleep: […]”

14. (figuratively, obsolete, transitive)To relieve (distress); to alleviate, to ease.
15. (figuratively, obsolete, reflexive, transitive)To reform (oneself).

    “[B]id the diſhoneſt man mend himſelf, if he mend, he is no longer diſhoneſt; […]”

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

    “[W]hatſoeuer is Nevv, is vnlooked for; And euer it mends Some, and pairs Other: […]”

    “I vvas born indeed in your Dominions, but your ſe[r]vice vvas hard, and your vvages ſuch as a man could not live on, for the vvages of Sin is death [Romans 6:23]; therefore vvhen I vvas come to years, I did as other conſiderate perſons do, look out, if perhaps I might mend my ſelf.”

    “[W]hether it vvas by Negligence in guarding them, or that they thought the Fellovvs could not mend themſelves, I knovv not, but one of them run avvay, and taking into the VVoods, they could never hear of him more.”

    “After all, if the king vvere to bring himſelf to echo this nevv kind of addreſs, to adopt it in terms, and even to take the appellation of Servant of the People as his royal ſtyle, hovv either he or vve ſhould be much mended by it, I cannot imagine.”

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

    “"Ready?" said the old gentleman inquiringly, when his guests had been washed, mended, brushed, and brandied.”

    “She will tend him, nurse him, mend him; / Air his linen, dry his tears. / Bless the thoughtful fates that send him / Such a wife to soothe his years!”

18. (Northern-Ireland, Scotland, figuratively, obsolete, transitive)To cause (a person or animal) to gain weight; to fatten.
19. (Scotland, figuratively, obsolete, transitive)Chiefly with the impersonal pronoun it: to provide a benefit to (someone); to advantage, to profit.
20. (figuratively, intransitive)Of an illness: to become less severe; also, of an injury or wound, or an injured body part: to get better, to heal.

    “My long ſickneſſe / Of Health, and Liuing, novv begins to mend, […]”

    “Some days later it happened that young Heriotside was stepping home over the Lang Muir about ten at night—it being his first jaunt from home since his arm had mended.”

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

    “The queen is mending of her gout, and intends to be brought in a chair to parliament when it meets, […]”

    “But the fever has left him, and the doctor says he will soon mend.”

    “There's nae banes broke, and I've dressed your face wi' a sure salve. Dinna disturb the clouts, sir. Your skin's ower clean to beil [fester], and ye'll mend quick if ye let the clouts bide a wee.”

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

    “You are in a peck of troubles, as most men are who are free-livers, and are led astray by artful and alluring females. However, as Lady Betty says, 'the least said the soonest mended.'”

    “I have not let Mr. Spencer see that I have discovered his secret, I can do that or not, according to circumstances hereafter, neither have i said any thing of my discovery to Mrs. B. or Camilla. At present, 'least said soonest mended.'”

23. (Scotland, figuratively, intransitive)To become morally improved or reformed.

    “Let ſhame come vvhen it vvill, I doe not callit, / […] / Mend vvhen thou canſt, be better at thy leaſure, / I can be patient, […]”

    “VVe have both of us our failings that vvay, […] but it is never over-late to mend: therefore I begin, and do penance in this vvhite ſheet for vvhat is paſs'd; I hope you vvill do the like, and ſo vve may abſolve one another vvithout a Ghoſtly Father.”

    “But, fare you vveel, auld Nickie-ben! / O vvad ye tak a thought an’ men’!”

    “I am afraid that you are a very foolish boy, […] but I hope to see you mend when you marry.”

    “"Well, it's never too late to mend," said Anne roguishly.”

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

    “An evill pen, is that vvhich is ſouple or vveake, vvhich vvhen thou makeſt, or mendeſt, muſt haue a ſhort ſlit, and bee ſuffered to remaine great on both ſides, becauſe it is vveake; […]”

    “[T]he piece of woollen fabric which has been rejected by those who make or mend, and who must make or mend so cheaply that the veriest vagrant may be their customer, is formed not only into a new material, but into a material which sometimes is made into a new garment. These garments are inferior to those woven of new wool, both in look and wear; but in some articles the re-manufacture is beautiful.”

    “There was a fiction in genteel families that the ladies of the house never did anything serious or serviceable after dinner; […] Why they went through this elaborate pretence I have not the least idea, because everybody knew that every girl in the place was always making, mending, cutting-out, basting, gusseting, trimming, turning, and contriving. How do you suppose that the solicitor's daughters made so brave a show on Sundays if they were not clever enough to make up things for themselves?”

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

    “Then would ye mend as the fletcher mends his bolt, / Or sowre ale mendeth in summer, […]”

    “VVhat thinke you of this foole Maluolio, doth he not mend?”

    “I confeſs this clime (as matters go) is untovvard to improve ſuch buds of vertue, but the times may mend, novv that our King vvith the Sun, makes his approach unto us more and more: […]”

    “St. Peters ſeldom anſvvers Expectation at firſt entering it, but enlarges it ſelf on all Sides inſenſibly, and mends upon the Eye every Moment.”

    “[M]y friend Lewis and I dined with Kit Musgrave, if you know such a man: and, the weather mending, I walked gravely home this evening; and so I design to walk and walk till I am well: I fancy myself a little better already.”

26. (figuratively, intransitive, obsolete)To improve in amount or price.
27. (figuratively, intransitive, obsolete)Of an error, fault, etc.: to be corrected or put right.

    “Young men, whose passions are not a little unruly, give small hopes of their ever being considerable; the fire of youth will of course abate, and is a fault, if it be a fault, that mends every day; but surely, unless a man has fire in his youth, he can hardly have warmth in old age.”

28. (figuratively, intransitive, obsolete)Followed by of: to recover from a bad state; to get better, to grow out of.
29. (Northern-Ireland, Scotland, figuratively, intransitive, obsolete)Of an animal: to gain weight, to fatten.
30. (Scotland, figuratively, intransitive, obsolete)To advantage, to avail, to help.

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)Senses relating to improvement or repairing.

   “My trousers have a big rip in them and need a mend.”

2. (countable, uncountable)Senses relating to improvement or repairing.
3. (countable, uncountable)Senses relating to improvement or repairing.

   “Though he was fearfully weak, he found himself actually feeling better. The disease had spent itself, and the mend had begun.”

   “"[…] Then, as luck of one sort or another would have it, I got laid out with a broken ankle on a Bombay quay." Carrados voiced commiseration. "But you made a very good mend of it," he said.”

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