This page has 4 definitions of depend in English. Depend is a verb. Examples of how to use depend in a sentence are shown. Also define these 0 related words and terms: .
- (intransitive, followed by on or upon, formerly also by of) To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition; to hinge on.
- We would like to go skiing, but it depends on the amount of snow.
- 1948, John Huston, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, spoken by Dobbs:
- Gold don't carry any curse with it. It all depends on whether or not the guy who finds it is the right guy. The way I see it, gold can be as much of a blessing as a curse
- (intransitive, followed by on or upon) To trust; to have confidence; to rely.
- we should all be able to depend on the word or assurance of our friends
- we depend on the mailman to come at the usual time.
- (now literary) To hang down; to be sustained by being fastened or attached to something above.
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick:
- The long rows of teeth on the bulwarks glistened in the moonlight; and like the white ivory tusks of some huge elephant, vast curving icicles depended from the bows.
- 1982, Paul Fussell, My War:
- Besides, if you worked up to be a cadet officer, you got to wear a Sam Browne belt, from which depended a nifty saber.
- (archaic) To be pending; to be undetermined or undecided.
- a cause depending in court
- 1703, The History Of King William The Third. In III Parts:
- While the Bishops Affair was depending, the King sent orders [...]
- 1836, Reports of Cases Adjudged in the Court of King's Bench:
- 1837, The Acts and Monuments of John Foxe, page 544:
- "A Letter of the King sent to his Proctors at Rome, concerning a Case of his in the said Court depending."
be contingent or conditioned
- depend in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- depend at OneLook Dictionary Search