lend
lend Lexical Profile
lend Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To grant to someone the use of something on the understanding that it or its equivalent will be returned.
"The public library will lend you up to ten books at a time."
To allow a person or organization the use of a sum of money under an agreement to pay it back later, typically with interest.
"The bank refused to lend them the capital needed for the expansion."
To contribute or add a quality, atmosphere, or support to something.
"The antique wooden furniture lends a warm, rustic charm to the dining room."
To accommodate or adapt oneself or itself to a particular purpose or treatment (used reflexively with 'to').
"The novel's episodic structure lends itself well to a television adaptation."
• noun
British An act of lending something, or a thing that is lent for temporary use (informal).
"Could I have a lend of your bicycle for the afternoon?"
Word Nuance & Usage
Often confused with 'borrow' and 'loan': 'lend' means to give something temporarily (moving away from the speaker), whereas 'borrow' means to receive something temporarily. In formal usage, 'lend' is preferred as the verb and 'loan' as the noun, though 'loan' is widely accepted as a verb in American English for financial transactions.
• Rhymes for lend
Word Origin & Etymology
From Middle English lenden, altered from lenen (with the addition of an excrescent -d by analogy with past tense forms), from Old English lænan ('to lend, lease, grant'), derived from the noun læn ('loan, gift').