WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Pre*tend"
Part of Speech : v.
Etymology : [OE. pretenden to lay claim to, F. pr?tendre, L. praetendere, praetentum, to stretch forward, pretend, simulate, assert; prae before + tendere to stretch. See Tend, v. t. ]
Definition : 1. To lay a claim to; to allege a title to; to claim. Chiefs shall be grudged the part which they pretend. Dryden.

2. To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden. [R.] Lest that too heavenly form, pretended To hellish falsehood, snare them. Milton.

3. To hold out, or represent, falsely; to put forward, or offer, as true or real (something untrue or unreal); to show hypocritically, or for the purpose of deceiving; to simulate; to feign; as, to pretend friendship. This let him know, Lest, willfully transgressing, he pretend Surprisal. Milton.

4. To intend; to design; to plot; to attempt. [Obs.] Such as shall pretend Malicious practices against his state. Shak.

5. To hold before one; to extend. [Obs.] "His target always over her pretended." Spenser.

t. [imp. & p. p. Pretended; p. pr. & vb. n. Pretending.]
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913

Pronunciation : Pre*tend"
Part of Speech : v.
Definition : 1. To put in, or make, a claim, truly or falsely; to allege a title; to lay claim to, or strive after, something; -- usually with to. "Countries that pretend to freedom." Swift. For to what fine he would anon pretend, That know I well. Chaucer.

2. To hold out the appearance of being, possessing, or performing; to profess; to make believe; to feign; to sham; as, to pretend to be asleep. "[He] pretended to drink the waters." Macaulay.

i.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913