tend
tend
/tend/
1 intransitive tend to do something to be likely to do something or to happen in a particular way because this is what often or usually happens Women tend to live longer than men.
People tend to be happier if they are in a long-term relationship.
When I'm tired, I tend to make mistakes.
It tends to get very cold here in the winter.
People tend to think that the problem will never affect them.
I tend to agree with many of the points you make.
I tend to focus on dance, but acting and singing are equally important to me.
Large class size will tend to increase the use of the lecture.
2 intransitive tend (to/towards something) to take a particular direction or often have a particular quality His views tend towards the extreme.
Prices have tended downwards over recent years.
tend somebody/something a shepherd tending his sheep
Doctors and nurses tended the injured.
well-tended gardens
tend to somebody/something Ambulance crews were tending to the injured.
Collocations
adverb
preposition
to
phrases
4 transitive tend something (North American English) to serve customers in a store, bar, etc. He had a job tending bar in San Francisco.
Word Origin
senses 1 to 2 Middle English (in the sense ‘move or be inclined to move in a certain direction’): from Old French tendre ‘stretch, tend’, from Latin tendere.
senses 3 to 4 Middle English: shortening of attend.