From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtendtend /tend/ ●●● S1 W1 verb 1 → tend to do something2 (also tend to somebody/something) [transitive] old-fashionedLOOK AFTER something to look after someone or something Sofia was in the bedroom tending to her son.3 → tend towards something4 → tend bar5 [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] formalDEVELOP to move or develop in a particular directiontend upwards/downwards Interest rates are tending upwards.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
tend• Jose was outside tending the garden when the fire broke out.• Jose Aburto Cortez, 57, was outside tending the garden when the fire broke out.• The process of distillation tends to alter the aroma to a degree.• Departments with an eye to the ratings tend to appoint established researchers with proven records, rather than younger, unpublished candidates.• Smaller, start-up companies last year tended to be in the business of technology.• It tends to be the brighter kids who get all the teacher's attention.• In other words, your transcription tends to become more phonemic without being systematically so.• Young children tend to get sick more often than adults.• What tends to happen is that the poorest families end up in the worst housing.• First, he tends to have relatively better visual-spatial abilities.• Mom was usually busy tending to my younger sisters.• Such people tend to perform marginal tasks and to enter and leave the workforce at random intervals.Origin tend 1. (1300-1400) Old French tendre “to stretch”, from Latin tendere2. (1100-1200) attend 