Adjacent Words

Attend definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ATTEND', v.t. [L. attendo; ad and tendo, to stretch, to tend. See Tend.]
1. To go with, or accompany, as a companion, minister or servant.
2. To be present; to accompany or be united to; as a cold attended with fever.
3. To be present for some duty, implying charge or oversight; to wait on; as, the physician or the nurse attends the sick.
4. To be present in business; to be in company from curiosity, or from some connection in affairs; as, lawyers or spectators attend a court.
5. To be consequent to, from connection of cause; as, a measure attended with ill effects.
6. To await; to remain, abide or be in store for; as, happiness or misery attends us after death.
7. To wait for; to lie in wait.
8. To wait or stay for.
Three days I promised to attend my doom.
9. To accompany with solicitude; to regard.
Their hunger thus appeased, their care attends.
The doubtful fortune of their absent friends.
10. To regard; to fix the mind upon.
The pilot doth not attend the unskillful words of the passenger.
This is not now a legitimate sense. To express this idea, we now use the verb intransitively, with to, attend to.
11. To expect. [Not in use.]
ATTEND', v.i.
1. To listen; to regard with attention; followed by to.
Attend to the voice of my supplication. Psalms 86.
Hence much used in the imperative, attend!
2. To regard with observation, and correspondent practice.
My son, attend to my words.
Hence, to regard with compliance.
He hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Psalms 64.
3. To fix the attention upon, as an object of pursuit; to be busy or engaged in; as, to attend to the study of the scriptures.
4. To wait on; to accompany or be present, in pursuance of duty; with on or upon; as, to attend upon a committee; to attend upon business. Hence,
5. To wait on, in service or worship; to serve.
That ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.
1 Corinthians 7.
6. To stay; to delay. Obs.
For this perfection she must yet attend,
Till to her maker she espoused be.
7. To wait; to be within call.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: be present at (meetings, church services, university), etc.; "She attends class regularly"; "I rarely attend services at my church"; "did you go to the meeting?" [syn: attend, go to] [ant: miss]
2: take charge of or deal with; "Could you see about lunch?"; "I must attend to this matter"; "She took care of this business" [syn: attend, take care, look, see]
3: to accompany as a circumstance or follow as a result; "Menuhin's playing was attended by a 15-minute standing ovation"
4: work for or be a servant to; "May I serve you?"; "She attends the old lady in the wheelchair"; "Can you wait on our table, please?"; "Is a salesperson assisting you?"; "The minister served the King for many years" [syn: serve, attend to, wait on, attend, assist]
5: give heed (to); "The children in the audience attended the recital quietly"; "She hung on his every word"; "They attended to everything he said" [syn: attend, hang, advert, pay heed, give ear]

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French atendre, from Latin attendere, literally, to stretch to, from ad- + tendere to stretch — more at thin Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to pay attention to 2. to look after ; take charge of <campsites…attended by park rangers — Jackson Rivers> 3. a. to go or stay with as a companion, nurse, or servant b. to visit professionally especially as a physician 4. archaic a. to wait for b. to be in store for 5. to be present with ; accompany 6. to be present at ; go to <attend law school> intransitive verb 1. to apply oneself <attend to your work> 2. to apply the mind or pay attention ; heed 3. a. to be ready for service <ministers who attend upon the king> b. to be present 4. obsolete wait, stay 5. to direct one's attention ; see <I'll attend to that> • attender noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 tr. a be present at (attended the meeting). b go regularly to (attends the local school). 2 intr. a be present (many members failed to attend). b be present in a serving capacity; wait. 3 a tr. escort, accompany (the king was attended by soldiers). b intr. (foll. by on) wait on; serve. 4 intr. a (usu. foll. by to) turn or apply one's mind; focus one's attention (attend to what I am saying; was not attending). b (foll. by to) deal with (shall attend to the matter myself). 5 tr. (usu. in passive) follow as a result from (the error was attended by serious consequences). Derivatives: attender n. Etymology: ME f. OF atendre f. L attendere (as AD-, tendere tent- stretch)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Attend At*tend", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Attended; p. pr. & vb. n. Attending.] [OE. atenden, OF. atendre, F. attendre, to expect, to wait, fr. L. attendre to stretch, (sc. animum), to apply the mind to; ad + tendere to stretch. See Tend.] 1. To direct the attention to; to fix the mind upon; to give heed to; to regard. [Obs.] The diligent pilot in a dangerous tempest doth not attend the unskillful words of the passenger. --Sir P. Sidney. 2. To care for; to look after; to take charge of; to watch over. 3. To go or stay with, as a companion, nurse, or servant; to visit professionally, as a physician; to accompany or follow in order to do service; to escort; to wait on; to serve. The fifth had charge sick persons to attend. --Spenser. Attends the emperor in his royal court. --Shak. With a sore heart and a gloomy brow, he prepared to attend William thither. --Macaulay. 4. To be present with; to accompany; to be united or consequent to; as, a measure attended with ill effects. What cares must then attend the toiling swain. --Dryden. 5. To be present at; as, to attend church, school, a concert, a business meeting. 6. To wait for; to await; to remain, abide, or be in store for. [Obs.] The state that attends all men after this. --Locke. Three days I promised to attend my doom. --Dryden. Syn: To Attend, Mind, Regard, Heed, Notice. Usage: Attend is generic, the rest are specific terms. To mind is to attend so that it may not be forgotten; to regard is to look on a thing as of importance; to heed is to attend to a thing from a principle of caution; to notice is to think on that which strikes the senses. --Crabb. See Accompany.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Attend At*tend", v. i. 1. To apply the mind, or pay attention, with a view to perceive, understand, or comply; to pay regard; to heed; to listen; -- usually followed by to. Attend to the voice of my supplications. --Ps. lxxxvi. 6. Man can not at the same time attend to two objects. --Jer. Taylor. 2. To accompany or be present or near at hand, in pursuance of duty; to be ready for service; to wait or be in waiting; -- often followed by on or upon. He was required to attend upon the committee. --Clarendon. 3. (with to) To take charge of; to look after; as, to attend to a matter of business. 4. To wait; to stay; to delay. [Obs.] For this perfection she must yet attend, Till to her Maker she espoused be. --Sir J. Davies. Syn: To Attend, Listen, Hearken. Usage: We attend with a view to hear and learn; we listen with fixed attention, in order to hear correctly, or to consider what has been said; we hearken when we listen with a willing mind, and in reference to obeying.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(attends, attending, attended) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If you attend a meeting or other event, you are present at it. The meeting will be attended by finance ministers from many countries... We want the maximum number of people to attend to help us cover our costs. VERB: V n, V 2. If you attend an institution such as a school, college, or church, you go there regularly. They attended college together at the University of Pennsylvania. VERB: V n 3. If you attend to something, you deal with it. If you attend to someone who is hurt or injured, you care for them. The staff will helpfully attend to your needs... VERB: V to n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Accompany, escort, follow, go with, go along with, keep company with. 2. Guard, watch, protect, have in keeping. 3. Serve, minister to, wait on, dance attendance on, lackey. 4. Be present at, frequent. 5. Await, be in store for, be ready for. II. v. n. 1. Listen, hearken, hear, give ear, give heed, pay attention. 2. Tend, serve, wait, be attendant.

Moby Thesaurus

accompany, administer to, aid, animadvert, appear, assist, assister, associate, associate with, assort with, attend on, attend to, audit, auscultate, band together, be all ears, be at, be present at, bear, become of, bend an ear, bug, care for, carry, catch, cater to, chaperon, chaperone, chore, cock the ears, combine, come about, come after, come of, come out, come to, companion, company, conduct, confederate, consociate, consort with, convoy, couple with, dance attendance upon, deal with, develop, direct, displace, do, do for, do service to, drudge, eavesdrop, emanate, end, ensue, escort, esquire, eventuate, examine by ear, eye, fall out, fare, flock together, follow, follow after, follow up, fraternize, frequent, gape, give attention, give audience to, give ear, give heed to, give rise to, go after, go along with, go to, go with, govern, guard, guide, handle, hang around with, hark, haunt, hear, hear out, hearken, heed, help, herd together, intercept, issue, join, keep company with, lackey, lead, lend an ear, listen, listen at, listen in, listen to, look, look after, look at, look on, look out for, maid, manage, mark, marshal, mind, mingle, minister to, mix, note, notice, observe, ogle, oversee, overtake, pan out, pander to, pay attention to, prove, prove to be, regard, regulate, remark, replace, result, run, run with, see, serve, shepherd, show up, sit in, sit in on, squire, succeed, supervene, supervise, take care of, take in, take note, take notice, take out, tap, tend, tend to, terminate, track, trail, turn out, turn to, turn up, unfold, upon, usher, valet, view, visit, wait, wait on, watch, watch over, wiretap, witness, work for, work out