▪ I. fend, n. Sc. and dial.
(fɛnd)
[f. next vb.]
1. A shift or effort which one makes for oneself. to make a fend: to make a venture.
| a 1724 Borrowstoun Mous in Ramsay Evergreen I. 144 Scho maid an easy Fen. 1794 Burns Tam Glen ii, I'm thinking, wi' sic a braw fallow, In poortith I might mak a fen'. a 1810 Tannahill Poems (1846) 25, I think, through life I'll make a canny fen', Wi hurcheon Nancy. 1824 Scott St. Ronan's xx, Out I wad be, and out John Bowler gat me, but wi' nae sma fight and fend. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss., ‘They make a good fend for a living.’ 1877 Holderness Gloss., ‘He disn't seem to mak a bit o' fend.’ |
2. Activity in making shifts for oneself, energy.
| 1788 Marshall Yorksh. Gloss., Fend, activity, management, assiduity, prowess. 1876 Whitby Gloss. |
3. Provisions, fare.
| 1804 W. Tarras Poems 54 Nae sumptuous fend, but hamely food. |
† 4. Naut. = fender n. Obs.
| 1658 Phillips, Fends, things hung over a Ships side to keep another Ship from rubbing against it. |
5. Comb., as fend-bolt (Naut.) = fender n. 2 b; fend-full a. Sc., full of shifts or expedients.
| 1678 Phillips, Fenders, pieces of old Cables [etc.] ..hung over a Ships side..called also *Fend-bolts. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Fend or Fender Bolts, made with long and thick heads, struck into the outermost bends or wales of a ship, to save her sides from hurts and bruises. |
| 1820 Blackw. Mag. Dec. 321 Else yere grown less *fendfou than I ever saw ye. |
▪ II. fend, v.
(fɛnd)
Also 4–6 fende, (4 fenden), 7–8 Sc., 9 dial. fain, fen.
[Shortened from defend.]
1. trans. = defend v. Now arch. or poet.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 28851 (Cott.) Almus..fenddes his saul fra þe fend. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 195 He com right son, Normundie to fende. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xxii. 46 He..fendede hem fro foule vueles. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 13 If þat we kunne fende him fro a fevere. c 1470 Henry Wallace iv. 615 Wallace in ire a burly brand can draw..To fende his men with his deyr worthi hand. 1503 Dunbar Thistle & Rose 133 And said, ‘In feild go furth and fend the laif’. 1568 U. Fulwell Like Will to Like in Hazl. Dodsley III. 322 Fend your heads, sirs, for I will to it more once. 1647 H. More Song of Soul i. i. xxvii, O heavenly Salems sons! you fend the right. a 1774 Fergusson Poems (1789) II. 32 My trees..Shall fend ye frae ilk blast o' wind. 1845 W. E. Frye tr. Oehlenschl. Gods 83, I only sought my realm to fend By wizard spell and mystic song. 1863 Emerson Boston Hymn 16 Freedom..shall..fend you with his wing. |
b. refl. and intr. for refl.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 216 Þo þat þer purueiance of Oxenford not held, With scheld & with lance fend him in þe feld. c 1400 Destr. Troy 10142 The freike with a fauchon fendit hym well. 1573 Satir. Poems Reform. xl. 196 How he suld fend from furie and thair fead. 1724 R. Falconer Voy. (1769) 101 What will come, will come, and there's no fending against it. 1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1842) 17 To fend against the winter cauld The heather we will pu'. 1864 Sir J. K. James Tasso (1865) II. xiv. xxiv, An agent prompt to fend and to attack. 1865 S. Evans Bro. Fabian 49 Goodman true, wouldst fend thyself From witchcraft and midnight elf? |
2. intr. to fend and prove: to argue, wrangle.
| 1575 Laneham Let. (1871) 17 Thus, with fending & proouing, with plucking & tugging. c 1698 Locke Cond. Underst. xxxi, Being able to fend and prove with them. 1702 Vanbrugh False Friend 1, Instead of fending and proving with his mistress, he should come to..a..parrying and thrusting with you. 1721 Strype Eccl. Mem. II. xxviii. 478 That delighted not in fending and proving. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss., Fending and Proving, arguing and defending. 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss., After fendin' an' provin' about summats. |
3. To ward or keep off, turn aside, keep out or at a distance. Also, to fend back.
| c 1572 Gascoigne Fruites Warre (1831) 217 So might we..fend our foes with blowes of English blade. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 466 With Fern beneath, to fend the bitter Cold. 1712 S. Centlivre Perplexed Lovers i. i, You shall not want a friend to fend that blow! 1787 Burns Holy Fair 73 Here stands a shed to fend the show'rs. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 22 To..fend the heat o' simmer blinter. 1823 Crabb Technol. Dict., ‘Fend the boat’, prevent it striking against any thing. 1860 Maury Phys. Geog. Sea ii. §143 Warm water..in contact with a cold non⁓conducting cushion of cold water to fend it from the bottom. 1876 Blackmore Cripps ii. (1877) 12 Fending the twigs from her eyes and bonnet. 1877 Kinglake Crimea VI. vi. 364 It enabled him to fend back the masses confronting him. |
b. esp. with off.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 1031 Þar a cite he assailes..Bot wees wiȝtly with-in þe wallis ascendid, Freschly fendid of & fersly with-stude. c 1570 Marr. Wit & Science iv. i. in Hazl. Dodsley II. 364 To fend and keep him off awhile, until his rage be out. 1669 Penn No Cross xx. §23 Do you think that Words will fend off the Blows of Eternal Vengeance? 1816 Scott Antiq. xxxvii, ‘Ye had aye a good roof ower your head to fend aff the weather.’ 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. xiii. (1889) 127 Catch hold of the long boat-hook, and fend her [the boat] off. 1865 Livingstone Zambesi xxiv. 481 A spoonful in hot water..to fend off a chill and fever. |
| absol. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1191 Þay feȝt & þay fende of, & fylter togeder. 1864 E. Sargent Peculiar III. 125 The man of nerve looks boldly at the danger and fends off accordingly. |
4. intr. To make an effort, strive or try to do something; to make a shift; to take precautions against. Sc. and dial.
| 15.. in Sibbald Chron. Scot. Poetry II. 46 Few for falsett now may fend. c 1680 [F. Sempill] Banishm. Poverty in Watson Collect. i. 13 Then I knew no way how to fen. 1712 S. Centlivre Perplexed Lovers iv, We must fend against that. 1788 Marshall Yorksh. Gloss., Fend, to strive as for a livelihood. 1794 Burns Gane is the day, Semple-folk maun fecht and fen. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede (ed. 4) I. 45 I'd make a shift, and fend indoor and out, to give you more liberty. 1865 E. Waugh Lanc. Songs, God bless him that fends for his livin', An' houds up his yed through it o'! |
b. to fend for: to make shift for, look after, provide for. So in to fend for oneself. Chiefly dial. or colloq.
| 1629 Jackson Treat. Div. Essence ii. Wks. 1673 II. 139 They do not..direct their brood in their motions, but leave them to fend for themselves. 1660 H. More Myst. Godl. To Rdr. 24 They are such as..fend for themselves as well as they may. 1785 Hutton Bran New Wark 468 When the awner will not fend for his sell. 1787 Grose Prov. Gloss., I ha twa bairns to fend for. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xx, ‘Ane wad hae carried me through the warld, and friended me, and fended for me.’ 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede 94 ‘Lads as could fend for their sens.’ |
c. = fare v.1 7. dial.
| 1781 Hutton Tour to Caves Gloss., How fend you, how fare you? 1790 Mrs. Wheeler Westmld. Dial. (1821) 113 I'd kna haw they fend all. 1794 Burns Carle of Kellyburn Braes ii, He met wi' the devil; says, ‘How do you fen?’ 1872 Black Adv. Phaeton 23 ‘How fens tee, Jeck? gaily?’ |
5. trans. = to fend for (4 b). Hence, to provide sustenance for, support, maintain. Chiefly Sc. and dial.
| 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 223 Fend thyself, I will hold my grips of thee no longer. 1674 Ray N.C. Words, To Fend; to shift for. a 1774 Fergusson Poems, Rising of Session 18 Hain'd mu'ter hauds the mill at ease And fends the Miller. 1787 Burns Death of Mailie 32 Gie them guid cow-milk their fill, Till they be fit to fend themsel. 1816 Scott Old Mort. v, ‘They are puirly armed, and warse fended wi' victual.’ |
† 6. To forbid. Obs. exc. dial. Cf. fen v.
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 9, I fend, Godes forbot, that ever thou thrife. 1888 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., Ee fain un vrum gwain pun eez graewn. |
Hence ˈfended ppl. a., ˈfending ppl. a.
| 1867 Emerson May-Day, etc. Wks. (Bohn) III. 423 This Oreads' fended Paradise. 1883 Almondbury Gloss., Fending..industrious. |
▪ III. fend(e
obs. form of fiend.