Standard Lemma guide

fend

noun · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈfɛnd/
  • [ˈfɛnd]
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˈfɪnd/ Southern US, African-American Vernacular
  • [ˈfɪ̟nd] Southern US, African-American Vernacular
  • rhymes with -ɛnd
  • homophone: finned (pin–pen merger)
  • CMU ARPABET: F EH1 N D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Self-support; taking care of one's own well-being.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An enemy; fiend; the Devil.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, dialectal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To take care of oneself; to take responsibility for one's own well-being.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

Examples

  • 1990, Messrs Howley and Murphy, quoted in U.S. House Subcommittee on Labor Standards, Oversight hearing on the Federal Service Contract Act, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 40, Mr. Howley. They are telling him how much they will increase the reimbursement for the total labor cost. The contractor is left to fend as he can. Chairman Murphy. Obviously, he can’t fend for any more than the money he has coming in.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To defend, to take care of (typically construed with for); to block or push away (typically construed with off).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: rare

Qualifier: except as "fend for oneself"

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

withstand the force of something

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The trees resisted her
  • stand the test of time
  • The mountain climbers had to fend against the ice and snow

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: resist, stand

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fight, oppose, fight back, fight down, defend

6

verb

Meaning 6

try to manage without help

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The youngsters had to fend for themselves after their parents died

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cope, get by, make out, make do, contend, grapple, deal, manage

History

Etymology

From Middle English fenden (“defend, fight, prevent”), shortening of defenden (“defend”), from Old French deffendre (Modern French défendre), from Latin dēfendō (“to ward off”), from dē- + *fendō (“hit, thrust”), from Proto-Italic *fendō, from Proto-Indo-European *gwhen- (“strike, kill”).

From Middle English fēnd, feond, from Old English fēond (“adversary, foe, enemy, fiend, devil, Satan”), from Proto-Germanic *fijandz, present participle of *fijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *peh1- (“to hate”). More at fiend.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: грижа се (griža se) — to take care of or responsibility for oneself
  • Dutch: zijn eigen boontjes doppen — to take care of or responsibility for oneself
  • Estonian: tõrjuma — to take care of or responsibility for oneself
  • Finnish: huolehtia itsestään — to take care of or responsibility for oneself
  • Finnish: pitää huolta itsestään — to take care of or responsibility for oneself
  • Finnish: selviytyä — to take care of or responsibility for oneself
  • Finnish: pärjätä — to take care of or responsibility for oneself
  • French: prendre soin de soi — to take care of or responsibility for oneself
  • German: alleine auskommen — to take care of or responsibility for oneself
  • German: für sich selbst sorgen — to take care of or responsibility for oneself
  • Spanish: valerse por sí mismo — to take care of or responsibility for oneself
  • Bulgarian: отклонявам (otklonjavam) — to defend, block or push away
  • Bulgarian: парирам (pariram) — to defend, block or push away
  • Chinese Mandarin: 挡住 (dǎngzhù) — to defend, block or push away
  • Finnish: torjua — to defend, block or push away
  • Finnish: pitää puolta — to defend, block or push away
  • Māori: pārai — to defend, block or push away
  • Māori: whakangungu — to defend, block or push away
  • Māori: matatā — to defend, block or push away