Meaning of lend in English

lend

verb

/lend/ us

/lend/

lent | lent

lend verb (GIVE)

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A2 [ T ]

to give something to someone for a short period of time, expecting it to be given back:

She doesn't like lending her books.

lend something to someone/something If you need a coat I can lend one to you.

[ + two objects ] If you need a coat I can lend you one.

B2 [ I or T ]

If a bank or other organization lends money, it gives money to someone who agrees to pay it back in the future, usually with extra money added to the original amount:

lend to The bank refuses to lend to students.

lend something to someone/something The bank has committed to lending almost £1 million to the project.

[ + two objects ] The bank agreed to lend him $5,000.

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Very reluctantly, I've consented to lend her my car.
All right, I'll lend you the money.
When the bank refused to lend us any more money we realized we'd reached the end of the road.
It was most generous of you to lend me the money.
Here's the book I said I'd lend you.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Borrowing & lending

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Banks

lend verb (ADD QUALITY)

[ T ]

If something lends a particular quality to something else, it adds that quality to it:

[ + two objects ] Vases of flowers all around the room lent the place a cheerful look.

lend something to someone/something Vases of flowers all around the room lent a cheerful look to the place.

formal These events lend support to the view that the law is inadequate.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to give something to someone

giveGive me that dirty plate.
offerYour doctor should be able to offer advice.
provideThis booklet provides useful information about local services.
supplyThe lake supplies the whole town with water.
donateFour hundred dollars has been donated to the school book fund.

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SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Giving, providing and supplying

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lend itself to something C2 formal

If something lends itself to something else, it is suitable for that thing or can be considered in that way:

The novel's complex, imaginative style does not lend itself to translation.

Grammar

Lend or borrow?

Lend means ‘give something to someone for a short time, expecting that you will get it back’. The past simple and the -ed form are lent: …

Idioms

lend your name to something

lend an ear

(Definition of lend from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

lend | American Dictionary

lend

verb [ T ]

/lend/

past tense and past participle lent us/lent/

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to give something to someone for a short period of time, expecting it to be given back:

Can you lend me a few dollars till payday?

Idiom

lend itself to something

(Definition of lend from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

lend | Business English

lend

verb

/lend/ us

lent uk/lent/ | lent uk/lent/

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[ I or T ] BANKING, FINANCE

if a bank or other financial organization lends money to someone, it gives them money for a period of time which they then pay back with interest:

Britain's building societies chiefly lend money for house purchase.

lend $5,000/£2bn/€1m, etc. to sb The Ohio Development Financing Advisory Council agreed to lend $20 million to the Port Authority.

lend sb $5,000/£2bn/€1m, etc. A number of prominent businessmen are rumoured to have lent the Party over £20 million.

lend to sb/sth Banks have been heavily criticized for lending to people who cannot afford the repayments.

[ T ]

to give someone something for a period of time, after which they will give it back to you:

lend sb sth Can you lend me $20?

lend sth to sb Her tasks included persuading stores to offer discounts or lend clothes on approval to her boss.

to give something a quality that makes it better in some way:

lend sth to sth We hope that these measures will lend stability to the economy.

lend weight (to sth) February's trade figures lend weight to the Fund's less cheerful view.

lend credence/credibility (to sth) Other evidence helped lend credibility to their claims.

lend a (helping) hand

to do something that helps a company or person:

The Federal Reserve is expected to lend a hand by continuing to cut interest rates forcefully.

lend your support (to sth)

to support someone or something:

I have lent my support to his plan for a private referendum.

(Definition of lend from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of lend

lend

Below the bridge, the shiny wings of dragonflies lent an air of charm to the creek.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Shortly, we will see how the author of the personification in conjunction with the idea of lending human form and speech to a geographical locus.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Moral support, and on numerous occasions, food and shelter, has been lent by my family and in-laws.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The fact that anti-perfectionism is based on restraint, on not doing as much good as one can, lends it a slightly paradoxical air.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The accumulation of data over a long period of time is a situation that lends itself well to the use of a microcomputer.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A prestigious roster of international architects lends status to the project and client commissioning the work, and enhances the media appeal of the undertaking.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The idea has lent itself to nationalist fantasies, enabling recent identities to be projected far back into the past.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Neither the one nor the other lends itself to transparent deductive or narrative presentation.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The thing to be contradicted has to be strong, so that it lends its weight to the subversion of it.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Obviously, the design also lends itself to evaluating the effects of various mediators and moderators of outcome.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In addition, the medical profession showed more competence in giving direction to unstructured discussions, and in lending significance to the issue in general.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Students also continue throughout the semester to participate in one or two activities from their first rotation, lending some continuity to the practicum experience.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Robots cannot replace syntactic models; but they can instantiate them, as a slide rule does the logarithm, lending credibility.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Metaphors do not poverty make, but through cultural discourse practices are valorized, options legitimated and statuses lent prestige or disparagement.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Few terms lent themselves to being declared one-to-one.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of lend

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of lend?

Translations of lend

in Chinese (Traditional)

給, 借出，借給, 貸（款），放貸（給某人）…

in Chinese (Simplified)

给, 借出，借给, 贷（款），放贷（给某人）…

in Spanish

prestar, dejar, dejar prestado…

in Portuguese

emprestar, dar, fornecer…

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उधार, कर्जाऊ…

（物）を貸す, （お金を）貸す, 貸（か）す…

ödünç/borç vermek, kredi vermek, ödünç vermek…

prêter, conférer, donner…

deixar, prestar…

lenen, verlenen…

ஒரு குறுகிய காலத்திற்கு ஒருவருக்கு ஏதாவது கொடுக்க, அதை மீண்டும் வழங்க வேண்டும் என்று எதிர்பார்க்கிறது, ஒரு வங்கி அல்லது பிற அமைப்பு பணத்தை வழங்கினால்…

उधार देना या किसी को थोड़े समय के लिए कोई चीज़ देना, (ब्याज़ पर) कर्ज़ देना…

ઉછીનું આપવું, ધીરવું…

låne, give…

låna [ut], ge, skänka…

meminjamkan, memberikan…

leihen, verleihen…