tends 1 of 2

verb (1)

present tense third-person singular of tend
as in leans
to show a liking or proneness (for something) her wardrobe tends toward dark colors and heavy fabrics

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tends

2 of 2

verb (2)

present tense third-person singular of tend
1
as in supervises
to take charge of especially on behalf of another tend the store while I run an errand

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2
as in grows
to look after or assist the growth of by labor and care lately I haven't been doing a good job of tending my garden

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3
as in cultivates
to work by plowing, sowing, and raising crops on plots that during the war were tended by city dwellers as vegetable gardens

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4
as in manages
to look after and make decisions about the dying patriarch wondered who would tend the family business after he was gone

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tends
Verb
My complexion tends to be dry in some areas and oily in others, so striking the balance between glow and grease can be tricky. — Lucy Partington, Glamour, 7 Oct. 2026 The nonprofit is centered around caring for children and adults with genetic disorders that are especially common among the Amish and broader Plain community, a group that also tends to have lower vaccination rates than average. — Deidre McPhillips, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2026 SpaceX’s reported $40 billion debt raise to buy Nvidia chips shows it is stuck between mature tech giants like Google and Meta and startups like OpenAI and Anthropic, whose private status tends to forgive their inability to pay their own bills. — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 7 Oct. 2026 Sound tends to be hit or miss for outdoor shows as there’s nothing to contain the noise. — Rashad Alexander october 7, Kansas City Star, 7 Oct. 2026 For functions your company shares with thousands of other companies, buying still tends to be the right answer. — Malte Kramer, Forbes.com, 6 Oct. 2026 The private-label gap tends to close quickly, and early entrants often undercut the brand that proved the category. — Lauren Schuster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Oct. 2026 The rhythm section likewise tends toward the unvarying, setting a pulse or pattern and sticking with it for long stretches. — Reed Jackson, SPIN, 6 Oct. 2026 The Melius analysts pin their optimism on the idea that things are set to improve in the existing home market, which is where the demand for repairs and remodeling projects tends to come from. — Zev Fima, CNBC, 6 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tends
  1. leans
  2. supervises
  3. grows
  4. cultivates
  5. manages
  6. watches
  7. produces
  8. plants
Verb
  • Downstairs, Angelica focuses on all-day European brasserie hits—rabbit rillettes, gravlax, and pickled cucumber salad—while the Bar Gambit leans moodier and more underground, attracting a particular post-work creative Fitzrovia crowd.
    — Katharine Sohn, Architectural Digest, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The stone leans toward or away from the steel; the steel approaches or withdraws from the stone.
    — Barry Schwabsky, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of leans
Verb
  • Instead of focusing on how many tasks a manager supervises, consider how much high-quality work the team can complete without their direct involvement.
    — Michael Goshka, Forbes.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Some act like the cool parent who supervises their child’s drug use.
    — Dónal Gill, The Dial, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of supervises
Verb
  • The new method instead grows the crystals separately and transfers them onto the chip afterward.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 7 Oct. 2026
  • But, especially as your business grows, working with scrap paper and Excel spreadsheets can be time-consuming and error-prone.
    — Carson Brunson, CNBC, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of grows
Verb
  • In the sweeping farmlands near the Central Coast, a seed supplier that cultivates peppers, vegetables and fruit was hit with more than two dozen pesticide safety violations, some of them serious offenses that caused health or environmental hazards.
    — Robert J. Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Like all classic noirs, Frank cultivates a sweaty, visceral realism to the main character’s desire to have a better life at any cost.
    — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of cultivates
Verb
  • Reactor, which emerged from stealth in May, develops software to make world models run faster and cheaper, and sells a cloud service that manages the computing capacity.
    — Wen Shao, Fortune, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Set the scene Located 10 minutes on foot from Roma Termini, the city’s bustling train station, The Fifteen Keys manages to feel like a quiet retreat in a city that sees millions of tourists each year.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of manages
Verb
  • The music is used in a scene where Alex watches his brother fight while the cartoon score plays, syncing humorously with the action.
    — Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Nobody else who works on (or watches) these films ever thinks about the people who live in these locations for the rest of the year.
    — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of watches
Verb
  • Like a factory that produces goods for years after it is built, acquiring a customer today can create a relationship that generates revenue far into the future.
    — Alexa LoMonaco, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2026
  • When the Explanation Does Not Match the Record A termination sometimes produces more than one explanation.
    — William Jones, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of produces
Verb
  • Moving plants indoors during cold snaps can keep mums in flower longer.
    — Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 23 Sep. 2026
  • The repeal’s effect on power companies’ present-day decisions – which plants to continue to operate, what to build and with what pollution controls built in – affects the electricity prices consumers pay now and over the coming decades.
    — Akshaya Jha, The Conversation, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of plants

Browse Nearby Words

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Cite this Entry

“Tends.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tends. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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