MENDING

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does mending mean? 

• MENDING (noun)
  The noun MENDING has 2 senses:

1. garments that must be repaired

2. the act of putting something in working order again

  Familiarity information: MENDING used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MENDING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Garments that must be repaired

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("mending" is a kind of...):

garment (an article of clothing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of putting something in working order again

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

fix; fixing; fixture; mend; mending; repair; reparation

Hypernyms ("mending" is a kind of...):

improvement (the act of improving something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mending"):

darning (the act of mending a hole in a garment with crossing threads)

patching (the act of mending a hole in a garment by sewing a patch over it)

care; maintenance; upkeep (activity involved in maintaining something in good working order)

band aid; quick fix; quickie; quicky (hurried repair)

restoration (the act of restoring something or someone to a satisfactory state)

reconstruction (the activity of constructing something again)

restitution (the act of restoring something to its original state)

Derivation:

mend (restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken)

 Context examples 

But I told a man mending a hedge that it was Thornton Lacey, and he agreed to it.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

“The matter is not past mending,” said Alleyne.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

At length she turned into a dull, dark street, where the noise and crowd were lost; and I said, “We may speak to her now”; and, mending our pace, we went after her.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Fish, in open pools, were not too quick for him; nor were beaver, mending their dams, too wary.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

I agreed to do his washing and mending, but he forgets to give out his things and I forget to look them over, so he comes to a sad pass sometimes.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

At fifteen, appearances were mending; she began to curl her hair and long for balls; her complexion improved, her features were softened by plumpness and colour, her eyes gained more animation, and her figure more consequence.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Now while the tinsmiths had been at work mending the Woodman himself, another of the Winkies, who was a goldsmith, had made an axe-handle of solid gold and fitted it to the Woodman's axe, instead of the old broken handle.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

No persuasions or enticements could overcome her fear, till, the fact coming to Mr. Laurence's ear in some mysterious way, he set about mending matters.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Why then should you, who are soldiers of the Spirit, be ever moping or hiding in cell or in cave, with minds full of your own concerns, while the world, which you should be mending, is going on its way, and neither sees nor hears you?

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I should not have chosen that way of mending a fault, replied her mother, but I'm not sure that it won't do you more good than a bolder method.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)