impend

[ im-pend ]
See synonyms for: impendimpending on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)
  1. to be imminent; be about to happen.

  2. to threaten or menace: He felt that danger impended.

  1. Archaic. to hang or be suspended; overhang (usually followed by over).

Origin of impend

1
First recorded in 1580–90, impend is from the Latin word impendēre to hang over, threaten. See im-1, pend

Other words from impend

  • su·per·im·pend, verb (used without object)

Words Nearby impend

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use impend in a sentence

  • Fines and imprisonment impend over us, for exercising one of the holiest charities of our religion.

  • At the distance of a mile they appeared to tower and almost impend over us.

    Left on Labrador | Charles Asbury Stephens
  • Concealing his agitation, he began the routine of such familiar labors as impend on the eve of battle.

    The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte | William Milligan Sloane
  • One speaks upon occasion, giving him warning when grave troubles impend.

    The Woodlands Orchids | Frederick Boyle
  • The Kalmuck priest wears a leather coat, over the laps of which impend hundreds of strips, with leather tassels on the breast.

    Some Heroes of Travel | W. H. Davenport Adams

British Dictionary definitions for impend

impend

/ (ɪmˈpɛnd) /


verb(intr)
  1. (esp of something threatening) to be about to happen; be imminent

  2. (foll by over) rare to be suspended; hang

Origin of impend

1
C16: from Latin impendēre to overhang, from pendēre to hang

Derived forms of impend

  • impendence or impendency, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012