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depend

Pronunciation: /dɪˈpɛnd/

Translate depend | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of depend

verb

[no object]
  • 1 (depend on/upon) be controlled or determined by:differences in earnings depended on a wide variety of factors
  • 2 (depend on/upon) be able to trust; rely on:we can depend on her to deliver a quality product
  • need for financial or other support:a town which had depended heavily upon the wool industry
  • be grammatically dependent on.
  • 3 archaic or literary hang down:his tongue depended from open jaws

Phrases

depending on

according to:makes 8-10 burgers (depending on size)

it (or that) (all) depends

used to express uncertainty in answering a question:How many people use each screen? It all depends

Origin:

late Middle English (in depend (sense 3); also in the sense 'wait or be in suspense'): from Old French dependre, from Latin dependere, from de- 'down' + pendere 'hang'

In informal use, it is quite common for the on to be dropped in sentences such as it all depends how you look at it (rather than it all depends on how you look at it), but in well-formed written English the on should be retained.

depend in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of depend in the US English dictionary

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