mending 1 of 3

as in rehabilitation
the process or period of gradually regaining one's health and strength it was a long slow mending of his injuries from the car crash, but he's fine now

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

mending

2 of 3

adjective

mending

3 of 3

verb

present participle of mend
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2
3
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as in compensating
to make up for (an offense) the proverb "least said, soonest mended" should be heeded by anyone tempted to angrily blurt out things they really don't mean

Synonyms & Similar Words

5
as in improving
to change one's behavior or character for the better everyone's written her off as a liar and a thief, but I say it's never too late to mend

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

6

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of mending
Noun
Jacob Elordi may have made visible mending look cute on the big screen. Michele Promaulayko, Allure, 17 June 2026 Simply tossing all your clothes into the washer can sometimes result in damaged garments that require replacements or mending. Wendy Rose Gould, Martha Stewart, 30 Apr. 2026 If a piece is salvageable and needs some mending or a powerful stain remover, set it aside and make a plan to attend to it. Tessa Cooper, The Spruce, 16 Apr. 2026 While the company’s humble beginnings began as a simple mending solution, Vivolo believes the future of trims will be about integration between craftsmanship and technology. Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 1 Apr. 2026 Family ties may need some mending, and once they’ve been handled, those bonds could be immensely helpful. Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 24 Jan. 2026 Visitors can try their hand at skills such as block printing, moss wall art, and Japanese sashiko mending. Kathryn Romeyn, Travel + Leisure, 21 Jan. 2026 Sometimes our brains need something completely different to concentrate on while our hearts do their mending. Peter Debruge, Variety, 2 Sep. 2025 Their relationship definitely needs mending. Joan MacDonald, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2025
Verb
Cooking and preparing food, spinning and weaving cloth, washing and mending clothes, and caring for the sick were just some of the kinds of labor that supported the fledgling nation. Carolyn Zola, The Conversation, 11 June 2026 Dirty or dusty flags can be washed or dry cleaned, and there are no provisions against mending or repairing a flag, according to the American Legion. Darleene Powells, Boston Herald, 10 June 2026 Tager explained that the process involved mending the canvas, then treating the layers of paint to ensure that the damage was undetectable. News Desk, Artforum, 9 June 2026 Around the same time as the engagement photo shoots, the brides-to-be start mending their porcelain plates, which were ceremoniously shattered so the brides-to-be could mend them. Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 13 May 2026 The president’s latest barbs came just days before Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to the Vatican for a fence-mending visit. Claire Malon, Chicago Tribune, 9 May 2026 Here Hathaway plays a pop star in crisis, busy mending her relationship with her former costume designer and best friend, played by Michaela Coel, on the eve of a comeback that doesn’t exactly promise levity. Maddalena Gomez, Vanity Fair, 27 Apr. 2026 Meyers said Thursday that mending the relationship between the school and households will be important, but that there is only so much that can be done. Samuel O’Neal April 23, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Apr. 2026 Feeding the needy and mending cultural divides over the course of 24 hours is a tall order. Monique John, CBS News, 8 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mending
Noun
  • Roberts said Smith has not been able to accelerate his rehabilitation to the point of doing baseball activities.
    Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2026
  • Borrowers can find more information about loan rehabilitation here.
    ABC News, ABC News, 1 July 2026
Adjective
  • Without better reporting, lawmakers and analysts will have to act with incomplete knowledge, essentially guessing effective tax rates based on limited and sometimes misleading reporting.
    Howard Gleckman, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
  • By better understanding how the AAC organizes vocal output in budgerigars, researchers hope to gain new insights into human speech disorders, such as aphasia and Parkinson’s disease, which can impair a person’s ability to produce language.
    Ella Jeffries, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • This included some store closures (including the majority of its off-price Saks Off 5th locations), tapping additional financing, and repairing relationships with brands.
    Madeleine Schulz, Vogue, 27 June 2026
  • Blue Origin is hard at work at its Cape Canaveral launch pad, collecting debris and repairing the damage after an explosive accident last month.
    Josh Dinner, Space.com, 27 June 2026
Verb
  • Koné will continue recovering from his fractured tibia and fibula.
    Jaclyn Hendricks, PEOPLE, 2 July 2026
  • The 1980s, fortunately, brought with them a feminism committed to revisiting and recovering the literary canon of women writers.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 July 2026
Verb
  • In 2009, after years of strained relations between SSPX and the Holy See, Pope Benedict XVI remitted the 1988 excommunications as a step toward healing the rift.
    Noah LaBelle, NPR, 2 July 2026
  • By contrast, bridge-building leadership works by healing divides.
    Ginny Whitelaw, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
Verb
  • The onset is gradual enough to mask how serious it’s become, and family members often start compensating long before the person recognizes there’s a problem.
    Allison Palmer, Miami Herald, 1 July 2026
  • Then capital accelerates growth rather than compensating for strategic uncertainty.
    Dileep Rao, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
Verb
  • Pogačar is only improving as a rider, a scary proposition for man with his extraordinary palmares.
    Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 1 July 2026
  • Higgins also says that improving resilience will mean changing the city’s building code to allow innovative new technology.
    Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 1 July 2026
Verb
  • Most at-home gel systems bundle an LED curing lamp, base coat, top coat, gel polish color and basic prep tools like a file and buffer.
    Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 June 2026
  • The two facilities include a roughly 75,000-square-foot building for casting, curing and final assembly, and a nearly 70,000-square-foot case preparation facility.
    Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 25 June 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Mending.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mending. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.

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