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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Free Period
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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:
While a bullish storage surprise could lend near-term support, fading heat, an expected increase in supply from the Permian basin and the storage surplus “underscore weak fundamentals in the end of summer.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
"Europe's position is clear. We will never lend this model our legitimacy. No one has the moral authority to sell what they merely hold in trust for the next generation."
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
How that change affects company returns matters more than rising interest rates, which are simply a sign of demand for capital as households spend money, banks lend and companies invest, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
“Bloody Sunday” was also the last time she would speak to her family and friends, or lend her activism to the Civil Rights Movement.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
The knowledge that Bunny’s body actually lay about two miles to the southwest did not lend much interest or urgency to the search, and I plodded along in a daze, my eyes on the ground.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
The nonlinear nature of Homer’s epic poem lends itself to his style.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
The deal would be the latest in a string of vendor financing agreements in the AI ecosystem, whereby a seller lends to a buyer of its products.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Carney’s unique tenor ranges from Jeff Buckley to Freddie Mercury; his rock background and skill with the guitar is required for Orpheus’ lyre-playing and lends to the folk roots of Mitchell’s songs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
A heavily congested schedule lends itself to splitting the coaching jobs, but can also lead to one team being sidelined in terms of access to multi-format players.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
If someone lends you something, you have to look after it.”
From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman
Rather than convert their mountain of trade-surplus dollars into yen, which would have driven the yen higher still, they lent the dollars back to the country they had earned them from.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Tyson lent his name to the academy for $1 a year, has appeared at ceremonies for the school and given motivational speeches to students.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
Finch was a talented photographer, whose intimate shots of SoCal bands lent an air of tragic grit to an ascendant punk and rock scene.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
Room after room of this sprawling exhibition is filled with sumptuous treasures made with luxurious materials, many of the most precious lent by Kuwait’s al-Sabah Collection.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
But its very simplicity and the great ease which it lent to all computations put our arithmetic in the first rank of useful inventions.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
At issue is a lending program created when the Treasury market faced severe strains at the onset of the Covid pandemic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
In the second quarter, the company worked to make its AI lending models better at separating low-risk customers from high-risk customers, according to CEO Paul Gu.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
Thanks to Ian for lending me the chair, and, above all, thanks to you for reading.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
Japan plans to use a Federal Reserve lending program to raise dollars to defend the yen without selling its U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
One way was by lending money to Christians, often at a high rate of interest.
From "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village" by Laura Amy Schlitz
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.
