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
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is attendingprogressive
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have been attendingperfect progressive
-
has been attendingperfect progressive
Past
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attendedsimple
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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:
There had been some speculation that Takaichi, a regular visitor before becoming prime minister in October, might attend the shrine like then-premier Shinzo Abe, her mentor, had done in 2013.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
He then added he would not attend the count as Essex Police had told him about an "organised campaign to disrupt and degrade the result".
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Afterward, she told her supervisor she needed a short leave to attend to her health, but was denied.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
They attend concerts, meet career coaches, reserve study rooms, download software, join student organizations, and participate in countless campus activities without ever reaching for a wallet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
On top of that, the city offered to pay three hundred dollars per child for Connie and Kathy to continue to attend the Colored high school in Newport News.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
“This is so fun,” April Zhang-Autio, who often attends art happenings around the city, said while wandering from a cabana area to a merch booth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
Whaley, who attends Florida State University, came into the contest as a major underdog against Leng Jr, who is 23rd in the world amateur golf rankings, some 67 places higher than the 22-year-old from Doncaster.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
After four or five hours of sleep, Webb attends a community-college course on semiconductor manufacturing.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
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
And the state has rules about children and extended illnesses and contagious diseases, and it doesn't matter what kind of a school the kid attends.
From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements
The people who attended, some of them visiting from L.A., were dressed for a nightclub, not a board game night.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
More than 200 people have attended an emotional vigil in Cambridge to remember the life of Jason Arday.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Jeff Bezos went to the event hoping to persuade board members to admit him to the club, according to people who attended the event.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Japanese defence ministers have attended Yasukuni before, the last one being Minoru Kihara in 2024.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
Me and Lloyd attended school in our next-best shirts, sent off with a warning from Aunt Maud.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
She says she learned about Musk’s Terafab plans in March after attending a local council meeting.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
On dropping out: It began with attending hackathons in college.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Elsewhere, fire services said crews were attending 30 incidents in south Wales on Thursday, with a "significant number of resources" at the scene at Porth, Rhondda Cynon Taf.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
US-indicted Cuban leader Raul Castro received a standing ovation as he appeared in public for the first time in months Thursday, attending an event in Havana to mark the centenary of his brother Fidel's birth.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
Chip also tried talking his parents into attending the conference.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
