depend
Americanverb (used without object)
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depends,
present (3rd person singular)
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depended,
past participle, past
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depending
present participle
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to rely; place trust (usually followed by on orupon ).
You may depend on the accuracy of the report.
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to rely for support, maintenance, help, etc. (usually followed by on orupon ).
Children depend on their parents.
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to be conditioned or contingent (usually followed by on orupon ).
His success here depends upon effort and ability.
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to be undetermined or pending.
I may go to Europe or I may not, it all depends.
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Grammar. (of a word or other linguistic form) to be subordinate to another linguistic form in the same construction; to form a part of a construction other than the head.
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to hang down; be suspended (usually followed byfrom ).
The chandelier depends from the ceiling of the ballroom.
verb
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to put trust (in); rely (on); be sure (of)
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to be influenced or determined (by); be resultant (from)
whether you come or not depends on what father says
it all depends on you
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to rely (on) for income, support, etc
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rare (foll by from) to hang down; be suspended
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to be undecided or pending
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dependsimple
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dependssimple
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have dependedperfect
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has dependedperfect
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am dependingprogressive
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are dependingprogressive
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is dependingprogressive
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have been dependingperfect progressive
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has been dependingperfect progressive
Past
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dependedsimple
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had dependedperfect
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was dependingprogressive
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were dependingprogressive
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had been dependingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of depend
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English dependen, from Old French dependre, from Latin dēpendere “to hang down,” from dē- de- + pendere “to hang”
Explanation
To depend is to have confidence in something or someone. You can depend on your most loyal friend to show up for your modern dance performance in the park (although you probably can't depend on her liking it). Depend can also mean "determined by or contingent on something else." For example, if rain is in the forecast, your outdoor dance performance may be cancelled; it depends on the weather. Depend is almost always followed by the word on or upon, with upon being more formal. If you're speaking informally, you may drop the on or upon, as in "It all depends how you feel." Your decision to do that will, of course, depend upon your audience.
Vocabulary lists containing depend
"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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Sarah, Plain and Tall
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"How Do We Use Water?"
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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:
"The amount each customer receives will depend on the profit generated and how long they have been a Share Energy customer."
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
It suggests that the answer may depend not only on the immune system, but also on biological differences built into individual joints during development.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 5, 2026
The ranchers depend on snowmelt that feeds the Colorado River and its tributaries to nourish grasses and hay pastures for their herds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
Trucks and trains rely on it to move goods across the country; farmers depend on it to plant crops.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
And now, I didn’t have much choice about whether to depend on her.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
Whether separate counsel is legally required depends on the state and the terms of the agreement.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
However, rates are still some way short of their peaks of recent years, and how much people can borrow, and at what rate, depends considerably on their circumstances.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
“It all depends on if the number’s black or red.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Their growth also commonly depends on androgens, male hormones such as testosterone.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 8, 2026
“And sometimes no. Completely depends on the circumstance. If you want to defuse an emotional situation, use the neutral expression. If you're under attack, dominate with the eyes. All right, Mila, you’re next. Ready?”
From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee
However, males and females living within the same bay depended on many of the same local food sources.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
Then again, Telluride has never depended entirely on known quantities; films such as “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Moonlight” arrived with relatively modest expectations and left as major contenders.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
A body of water that had managed for centuries without an identity crisis had become an A/B test: which lake you saw depended on where you stood and which corporation’s map you opened.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
Parton's influence and success depended in part on her role as one of the few things on which Americans could agree.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
He understood—indeed, it was a crucial aspect of the collaboration—that Jefferson’s eventual reentry into the political arena depended upon sustaining the fiction in his mentor’s own mind that it would never happen.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
The Crypto Lawyers say their fees vary depending on the client’s situation, and that it often is paid as a percentage of recovered losses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
In other words, they asked whether the effect varies depending on the direction in which it is measured.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026
Definitions of what makes a working-class voter differ depending on who you ask.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
"Depending on how you answered it it got easier or harder so it varied depending on how well you did."
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
I asked, knowing that depending upon how he interpreted my question we might have a little fun.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
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.
