lend
Americanverb (used with object)
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lends,
present (3rd person singular)
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lent,
past participle, past
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lending
present participle
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to grant the use of (something) on condition that it or its equivalent will be returned.
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to give (money) on condition that it is returned and often that interest is paid for its temporary use.
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to give or contribute obligingly or helpfully.
to lend one's aid to a cause.
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to adapt (oneself or itself ) to something.
The building should lend itself to inexpensive remodeling.
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to furnish or impart.
Distance lends enchantment to the view.
verb (used without object)
-
lends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lent,
past participle, past
-
lending
present participle
idioms
verb
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(tr) to permit the use of (something) with the expectation of return of the same or an equivalent
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to provide (money) temporarily, often at interest
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(intr) to provide loans, esp as a profession
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(tr) to impart or contribute (something, esp some abstract quality)
her presence lent beauty
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(tr) to provide, esp in order to assist or support
he lent his skill to the company
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to listen
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to possess the right characteristics or qualities for
the novel lends itself to serialization
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to give support, cooperation, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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lendsimple
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lendssimple
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have lentperfect
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has lentperfect
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am lendingprogressive
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are lendingprogressive
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is lendingprogressive
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have been lendingperfect progressive
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has been lendingperfect progressive
Past
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lentsimple
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had lentperfect
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was lendingprogressive
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were lendingprogressive
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had been lendingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lend
First recorded before 900; from Middle English lenden, variant (originally past tense) of lenen, Old English lǣnan (cognate with Dutch lenen, German lehnen, Old Norse lāna ), derivative of lǣn loan; cognate with German Lehnen, Old Norse lān; see loan 1
Explanation
When you lend something, you loan it or let someone borrow it. You might, for example, lend your bike to your brother — if he promises to be careful with it. Libraries lend people books, and car rental companies lend people cars — in both cases, the item that's been borrowed is supposed to be returned eventually. Another way to lend is to "add a quality to," or "be suitable for." You could say that you think your hat lends you a mysterious quality, or that your trench coat lends itself to walking through a foggy city at dusk.
Vocabulary lists containing lend
"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 17
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Unit 17, Lesson 4
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Give
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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:
So far, investors have eagerly snapped up the chance to lend to the tech giants, but they have demanded returns that would have been unthinkable for such blue-chip companies not long ago.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
For instance, Walter Bagehot, the 19th-century editor of the Economist, didn’t simply prescribe that, in a crisis, central banks should lend freely against good collateral.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Inside, soaring ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows help flood the open-concept interiors with natural light, while sleek finishes lend the home a contemporary feel.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
These data lend support to a long-held hypothesis that oxygen played a key role in driving the evolution of early eukaryotes.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 27, 2026
“I wouldn’t lend one of you a sixpence. I wouldn’t lend anybody a sixpence.”
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
Honesty has always been Griffin’s superpower, and in this new chapter it lends her the air of a happy warrior.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
But our guide is just a regular guy, which lends to the charm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Like Smyth, he believes Northern Ireland lends itself perfectly to film-making.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
And such instrumentation lends itself to fascinating timbral combinations, such as the interplay of cello and tuba on “Red Admiral Red Moon Rising.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Ben has the only set of keys, but he lends them out for off-sites or…for other things, I guess.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
Devon lent the city $95 million to revamp the public streets, parks and sidewalks of downtown, paid back with its own tax dollars.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
I was lent a pair of Meta Ray-Bans – with cameras - to try out.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
This week, faculty wrote that his words lent credence to false accusations against the symposium and wrongly suggested that the lawyer or the organizers supported her client’s alleged crimes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Had they been plastered, clad in ceramic, or built in raw concrete, they would have lent tangible weight and heft to the vaults.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Cluny himself lent a claw, pulling on one of the lead ropes.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Many bank commercial loans are often backed by collateral that cushions losses, including the lending they do to those lending funds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
The LFI strongly denies doing anything more than lending its natural support to a movement it regards as legitimate.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Parsing regulators’ industry data, the analysts observe that business lending continued to grow strongly in August despite an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop, outpacing housing lending.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
The law allows national and state member banks to invest up to 20% of their capital and surplus in affordable housing, small business lending and community revitalization.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
The spectacle of Lawrence’s lending his highly developed talent for persuasion to a project of such dubious morality was more painful still.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
