FreeScrabbleDictionary

fend

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
8
Words With Friends
9
Letters
4
Pronunciation
/ˈfɛnd/
See all 4 pronunciations
/ˈfɛnd/ · [ˈfɛnd] · /ˈfɪnd/ · [ˈfɪ̟nd]

Definition of fend

4 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

verb

  1. (intransitive)To take care of oneself; to take responsibility for one's own well-being.
    “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.”
    “The planet was full of creatures in need, who could not really fend, and the law was at its best when it ensured that they were treated with dignity.”
See all 4 definitions

verb

  1. (intransitive)To take care of oneself; to take responsibility for one's own well-being.
    “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.”
    “The planet was full of creatures in need, who could not really fend, and the law was at its best when it ensured that they were treated with dignity.”
  2. (rare)To defend, to take care of (typically construed with for); to block or push away (typically construed with off).
    “With fern beneath to fend the bitter cold.”
    “He fends, he blocks, too skillful to be downed.”
    ““[…] My age is lot like yours. Lone women do not fare well. If I were not there to fend for you, you—””

noun

  1. (obsolete, uncountable)Self-support; taking care of one's own well-being.
  2. (UK, dialectal)An enemy; fiend; the Devil.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

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”).

Anagrams of fend

2 plays · some not in Scrabble

Words you can make from fend

11 playable · top: DEF (7 pts)

Best play def 7 points

3-letter words

4 words

2-letter words

6 words

Hooks

1 extension · 1 back

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