pretending : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: pretending	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for pretending
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
pretending n the act of giving a false appearance; "his conformity was only pretending" Synonym(s): pretense, pretence, pretending, simulation, feigning
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Pretend \Pre*tend"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Pretended}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Pretending}.] [OE. pretenden to lay claim to, F. pr[82]tendre, L. praetendere, praetentum, to stretch forward, pretend, simulate, assert; prae before + tendere to stretch. See {Tend}, v. t. ] 1. To lay a claim to; to allege a title to; to claim. Chiefs shall be grudged the part which they pretend. --Dryden. 2. To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden. [R.] Lest that too heavenly form, pretended To hellish falsehood, snare them. --Milton. 3. To hold out, or represent, falsely; to put forward, or offer, as true or real (something untrue or unreal); to show hypocritically, or for the purpose of deceiving; to simulate; to feign; as, to pretend friendship. This let him know, Lest, willfully transgressing, he pretend Surprisal. --Milton. 4. To intend; to design; to plot; to attempt. [Obs.] Such as shall pretend Malicious practices against his state. --Shak. 5. To hold before one; to extend. [Obs.] [bd]His target always over her pretended.[b8] --Spenser.