wend
verb (used with object)
to pursue or direct (one's way).
wend
1 American
[wend]
/ wɛnd /
verb (used with object)
-
wends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wended,
past participle, past
-
went,
past (Archaic)
-
wending
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
wends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wended,
past participle, past
-
went,
past (Archaic)
-
wending
present participle
Wend
2
American
[wend]
/ wɛnd /
noun
Wend
1
British
/ wɛnd /
noun
wend
2
British
/ wɛnd /
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wendsimple
-
wendssimple
-
have wendedperfect
-
has wendedperfect
-
am wendingprogressive
-
are wendingprogressive
-
is wendingprogressive
-
have been wendingperfect progressive
-
has been wendingperfect progressive
Past
-
wendedsimple
-
wentsimple
-
had wendedperfect
-
was wendingprogressive
-
were wendingprogressive
-
had been wendingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wend1
before 900; Middle English wenden, Old English wendan; cognate with Dutch, German wenden, Gothic wandjan, causative of -windan to wind 2
Origin of Wend2
1780–90; < German Wende, Old High German Winida; cognate with Old English Winedas (plural)
Explanation
To wend means to choose a path and then walk that path. The path may not always be the fastest route, but at least it should get you there. Eventually. It’s always good to have a goal, and that’s true with wending. You know where you want to go, so you wend your way there. You’ll notice that wend looks like the verb wind, and they both come from the same Old English wendan, which means “to turn, depart.” When you wend, you may take curvy, windy roads, a more scenic route, some detours and side alleys, just for fun. But don’t wend too much or you’ll be late.
Vocabulary lists containing wend
A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Excerpt from "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
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100 SAT words Beginning with W,X,Y, and Z
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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:
“Shekhar, look to your left,” Sanjoy says as the road on which they are traveling first starts to wend its way through woodlands.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Thin ribbons of silky scrambled egg, cut from an egg crêpe, wend their way through the dish, too, and you can order another protein à la phad Thai, but you don’t need to.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 26, 2023
The Afghans wend through about a dozen countries, for months or longer.
From New York Times ● May 21, 2023
Currently, most designs for Arctic shipping routes have vessels sticking close to the edge of the ice as they wend their way through the sea.
From Scientific American ● May 1, 2023
It takes us a long time to wend our way back down the stairs.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
The council has received roughly $250,000 in funding collectively from the Omidyar Network, the Newton and Rochelle Becker Charitable Trust and the Wend Collective, according to Issue One spokesperson Cory Combs.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 12, 2022
In the two-channel “To Wend One’s Way…,” McClodden is seen alone in her studio, walking but getting nowhere — Naumanesque activity, pursued on a treadmill it seems.
From New York Times ● Aug. 18, 2022
Wend your way to the rooftop garden to ponder the same over free tea and cookies.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 19, 2018
A few are being released early, Wend said.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 17, 2016
From the loud wave-washed shore Wend I my way, Hast'ning o'er many a flow'r, At close of day— On past Kusaka's crest, Onward to thee, Sweet as the loveliest Flower of the lea!
From Japanese Literature Including Selections from Genji Monogatari and Classical Poetry and Drama of Japan by Epiphanius Wilson
The exhibition, which wends through eight contiguous galleries, begins with a visual overture, seven pictures that preview what’s ahead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
As the case wends its way through the courts, the government has not yet made good on its threat to break up NCAR's various labs, which currently employ about 800 people.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
This particular stretch of track, which wends north from the town of Dunsmuir, is a renegade route for hikers to one of northern California’s most enchanting natural sights, Mossbrae Falls.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2025
But as Jacy dithers and stalls in the July heat, so does the story, even as it wends toward the feverish, improbable rush of its climax.
From New York Times ● May 25, 2023
Finally he wends his way back, alone, to the lounge.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
The SUV drove me through an airport security gate and wended its way past rows of planes and runways before dropping me alongside the American Airlines 737 taking me to Phoenix.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Khamenei's funeral procession wended its way slowly through central Tehran, from Imam Hossein Square in the east to Azadi Square in the west, on the last of three days of public mourning in the capital.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
While the freeway’s fate wended through years of court and political hearings, the transportation agency rented some houses while allowing others to remain vacant and fall into disrepair.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2024
The Case of the Overinflated Basketballs wended its way through the New Jersey system.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 18, 2023
Standing on Copp’s Hill—the highest point in the North End neighborhood—one could look down on hectic streets where hundreds of people wended their way with pushcarts and horse-drawn wagons.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
House to represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, said she routinely went out in the middle of the night to repair signs since it was cooler.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
"In my 20s, I went to war twice thinking I could outrun my feelings," the duke said, referring to his stints in Afghanistan as a member of the Army.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Her husband’s gold Navy sword from his Vietnam days went into the Don’t Have a Clue bag before they gave it to their son.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
After a 30-year Treasury auction went well, following a strong 10-year sale on Tuesday, yields across the curve were lower.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
“He went to find me some water. My headache tells me it’s necessary.”
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
A proposal to ban social media for children under 15 is currently wending its way through parliament in France.
From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026
Mr. Crytzer’s narrative hums along with the National Road’s traffic as he colorfully describes Pony Express riders, stagecoaches, Conestoga wagons and many thousands of migrants wending ever westward, feeding the nation’s economic and territorial growth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Of the thousands of interorgan messages wending through the body, a few stand out as the most promising for therapies.
From Science Magazine ● May 22, 2024
The bullet-scarred pickups raced the sunrise along a rough dirt road wending through a dense pine forest.
From New York Times ● Apr. 17, 2024
I tramped out of camp by headlamp behind Rob and Frank, wending between ice towers and piles of rock rubble to reach the main body of the glacier.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
