mend

/mɛnd/verb, noun

mend is spelled M-E-N-D: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, mend means “To physically repair (something that is broken, defaced, decayed, torn, or otherwise damaged)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in mend?

Letters	4: M-E-N-D
Syllables	1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing	2.1 times per million words; the 18,811th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search
Rhymes with	end friend spend recommend more

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is mend?

Mend appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form in the list.

mend0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce mend?

US /mɛnd/
/mɪnd/

Mend has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-mend.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with mend?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as mend from its last stressed vowel (/ɛnd/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of mend

mends present, singular, he/she/it, plural
mending participle, present
mended participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does mend mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

1
To physically repair (something that is broken, defaced, decayed, torn, or otherwise damaged).
My trousers have a big rip in them and need mending.
2
To add fuel to (a fire).
3
To correct or put right (an error, a fault, etc.); to rectify, to remedy.
4
To put (something) in a better state; to ameliorate, to improve, to reform, to set right.
Her stutter was mended by a speech therapist.
5
To remove fault or sin from (someone, or their behaviour or character); to improve morally, to reform.
6
In mend one's pace: to adjust (a pace or speed), especially to match that of someone or something else; also, to quicken or speed up (a pace).
7
archaicTo correct or put right the defects, errors, or faults of (something); to amend, to emend, to fix.
8
archaicTo increase the quality of (someone or something); to better, to improve on; also, to produce something better than (something else).

noun

1
An act of repairing.
My trousers have a big rip in them and need a mend.
2
A place in a thing (such as a tear in clothing) which has been repaired.
3
Chiefly in on the mend: improvement in health; recovery from illness.
4
obsoleteRecompense; restoration or reparation, especially (Christianity) from sin.