portend
to indicate in advance; to foreshadow or presage, as an omen does: The street incident may portend a general uprising.
to signify; mean.
Origin of portend
1Other words for portend
Other words from portend
- un·por·tend·ed, adjective
Words that may be confused with portend
- portend , pretend
Words Nearby portend
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use portend in a sentence
These numbers portend to illuminate society-threatening failures within the current immigration enforcement system.
Inside The Center For Immigration Studies, The Immigration False-Fact Think Tank | Caitlin Dickson | May 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTCould the retirement of Rep. Tom Latham, a close friend, portend the exit of Speaker John Boehner as well?
Dissonant music that might otherwise be found in a Kubrick film portend to the worst.
The ‘12 Years a Slave’ Book Shows Slavery As Even More Appalling Than In the Film | Jimmy So | October 18, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTBut a small, important minority of these social-media clues portend real pain, struggle, even malice and disaster.
Could Facebook Have Prevented the Georgia Baby Shooting? | Joshua DuBois | March 27, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTA look at the most bizarre metrics used to portend the winner of the presidential election.
Strangest Presidential Election Predictors: 7-Eleven Coffee Cups & More | Kevin Fallon | October 4, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
A lofty birth or a large fortune portend merit, and cause it to be the sooner noticed.
The 'Characters' of Jean de La Bruyre | Jean de La BruyreHe had acted as Ruth had bidden him; but he had no wish to be further involved in this affair, whatever it might portend.
Mistress Wilding | Rafael SabatiniShe went on, wondering what this could portend, for since their chance meeting, she had not laid eyes on her neighbor.
The Woman Gives | Owen JohnsonIf clouds breed high in the air, with white trains like locks of wool, they portend wind, probably rain.
The Teesdale Angler | R LakelandWhat this obscure threat might portend, I could not see, but it chimed in with the delirious cruelty of the dead sergeant.
The Yeoman Adventurer | George W. Gough
British Dictionary definitions for portend
/ (pɔːˈtɛnd) /
to give warning of; predict or foreshadow
obsolete to indicate or signify; mean
Origin of portend
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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