attend
Americanverb (used with object)
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attends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
attended,
past participle, past
-
attending
present participle
-
to be present at.
to attend a lecture; to attend church.
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to go with as a concomitant or result; accompany.
Fever may attend a cold. Success attended her hard work.
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to take care of; minister to; devote one's services to.
The nurse attended the patient daily.
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to wait upon; accompany as a companion or servant.
The retainers attended their lord.
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to take charge of; watch over; look after; tend; guard.
to attend one's health.
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to listen to; give heed to.
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Archaic. to wait for; expect.
verb (used without object)
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attends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
attended,
past participle, past
-
attending
present participle
-
to take care or charge.
to attend to a sick person.
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to apply oneself.
to attend to one's work.
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to pay attention; listen or watch attentively; direct one's thought; pay heed.
to attend to a speaker.
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to be present.
She is a member but does not attend regularly.
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to be present and ready to give service; wait (usually followed by on orupon ).
to attend upon the Queen.
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to follow; be consequent (usually followed by on orupon ).
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Obsolete. to wait.
verb
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to be present at (an event, meeting, etc)
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to give care; minister
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to pay attention; listen
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(tr; often passive) to accompany or follow
a high temperature attended by a severe cough
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(intr; foll by on or upon) to follow as a consequence (of)
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to devote one's time; apply oneself
to attend to the garden
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(tr) to escort or accompany
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(intr; foll by on or upon) to wait (on); serve; provide for the needs (of)
to attend on a guest
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archaic (tr) to wait for; expect
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obsolete (intr) to delay
Synonym Usage
See accompany.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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attendsimple
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attendssimple
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have attendedperfect
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has attendedperfect
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am attendingprogressive
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are attendingprogressive
-
is attendingprogressive
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have been attendingperfect progressive
-
has been attendingperfect progressive
Past
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attendedsimple
-
had attendedperfect
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was attendingprogressive
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were attendingprogressive
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had been attendingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of attend
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English atenden, from Anglo-French, Old French atendre, from Latin attendere “to bend to, notice,” from at- at- + tendere “to stretch, extend, proceed”; cf. tend 1
Explanation
The verb attend means to be present, to listen, or give care or attention to. You can attend your family reunion, attend to a project you've been ignoring, or attend to your teacher's voice. When you use attend as "pay attention" or "take care of," it's followed by "to." When you use attend as in "attend a party," you don't. If you attend a political rally, you'll want to attend to what the politicians have to say. When you take attendance, you are checking which students have chosen to attend class, i.e. who is in attendance.
Vocabulary lists containing attend
"The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry
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"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling
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Mother's Day Words: What Mothers Do
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
West Ham are expecting David Sullivan to attend Saturday's Carabao Cup first-round tie against Portsmouth despite him being advised to stay away from home matches at London Stadium.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Residents say they’re not opposed to the clientele or the bar’s legacy but rather the proximity to where people live, work and where children attend school.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
The Myanmar leader will also attend a business forum and government-hosted dinner, the official said, with the two sides expected to sign a memorandum of understanding on labour cooperation.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Despite that environment, I went on to attend West Point, receive multiple degrees and become president of a company.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
He was a busy man with much to attend to.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
Last week Mr. Mamdani was asked on “The Interview” podcast what to expect if Mr. Netanyahu attends.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Schiller attends an informational seminar by a broker for Medicare Advantage plans and decides, unhelpfully, that they are neither “a solution or a problem.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
The position was created by statute in the 1800s; the marshal serves as the chief of police for the court, attends each court session, and handles ministerial duties, like paying the justices and their staffs.
From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2026
Wearing sunglasses and dressed with care, Burin resident Qusai Walid Eid summarises the feeling, saying he attends the festival every year to strengthen "our roots in this land".
From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026
Catherine, whose second birthday I celebrated with Farmer and Didi in their Paris apartment, is a teenager and attends a boarding school in the United States.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
In 25 years, it has gone from a well attended school with a successful athletics program to one that has faded into the background of Los Angeles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
After Takaichi attended the annual ceremony in Hiroshima on Thursday, she sat down for a televised meeting with survivors.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
A US delegation led by then-acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who has since been confirmed to the post, attended the inauguration.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
"We represent all Syrians, while I am also a representative of the Kurdish community and people, so I have double the responsibility," said Yousef, who attended her first parliamentary session dressed in traditional attire.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
They sat together three meals a day, but earlier in the year they had attended a production of The Pirates of Penzance, and sometimes they took the Shady Glen van to Target together.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
That includes visiting career services, attending job fairs and building relevant work experience potentially years before your fellow classmates begin thinking seriously about recruiting.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
Growing up in the San Gabriel Valley with her parents, both Taiwanese immigrants, Wang remembers regularly attending First Chinese Baptist Church on Yale Street with her family.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
She also began volunteering with TreePeople and attending classes at the Theodore Payne Foundation, including a three-part garden design course taught by director of horticulture Tim Becker.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
They, like the workmen loading barrels on the street, are all attending to the business of the once Dutch, now fully American port city we call New York.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Reverend Granger started to hear raps about his farm and house after attending several Fox séances.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
