pending
Americanpreposition
-
while awaiting; until.
pending his return.
-
in the period before the decision or conclusion of; during.
pending the negotiations.
adjective
-
remaining undecided; awaiting decision or settlement; unfinished.
pending business; pending questions; pending litigation.
-
about to take place; impending.
preposition
adjective
-
not yet decided, confirmed, or finished
what are the matters pending?
-
imminent
these developments have been pending for some time
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pending
1635–45; pend + -ing 2, on the model of French pendant ( see pendent)
Explanation
If something is supposed to happen but hasn’t happened yet, it is pending, like the pending snowstorm that has everyone scrambling to the store for bread and milk. The word pending comes from the French pendant, meaning “hanging.” If someone leaves you hanging, you are waiting for a call, a message, a visit — whatever the thing is that's supposed to happen. Pending is a good word to use when something has to happen before something else — like if you are learning to drive, maybe you'll have a car of your own soon, pending your success at passing the test.
Vocabulary lists containing pending
The Westing Game
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A Lesson Before Dying
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The Atlantic Charter - Churchill/Roosevelt (1941)
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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.
The merit board alone reported 20,335 pending appeals that year, four times its usual load, filed by workers swept out in the mass terminations, and with Harris gone it could decide none of them.
From Slate • Jun. 30, 2026
Before his arrest, Vance was out on bond pending state charges.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 28, 2026
The remedial portion of the case is pending.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 27, 2026
Stokes and Atkinson were made unavailable for England's second Test defeat pending an inquiry into events.
From BBC • Jun. 27, 2026
All were released pending an investigation, but we learned the next day that Sing Sing had demanded their badges.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
