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amend

Sayuh-MEND/əˈmɛnd/

Verbamends, amending, amended

Noun pluralamends

7 meanings of amend

Practice

  1. 1
    verbtransitive
    To officially change a law, report, or document by adding, removing, or rewording parts.

    Like changing a few words in your team's rules to make them clearer.

    Lawmakers voted to amend the bill before passing it.

    The committee amended the report to fix several errors.

    Similarrevise, modify, alter, change, rewrite

    Note
  2. 2
    verbtransitive
    To change something to make it better than before.

    Like fixing up an old bike so it works better than it did.

    She tried to amend her behavior after the warning.

    He amended his ways and started helping out at home.

    Similarimprove, better, reform, correct, refine

    Oppositeworsen, impair

    Note
  3. 3
    verbintransitive
    To get better, especially in how someone behaves.

    Like the weather clearing up little by little after a storm.

    His manners began to amend as he grew older.

    Things slowly amended after the family talked it through.

    Similarimprove, mend

    Oppositeworsen, deteriorate, decline

  4. 4
    noun
    Something done to make up for a wrong or to fix harm caused to someone.

    Like saying sorry by fixing the very thing you broke.

    He made amends by repairing the fence he had broken.

    She wanted to offer some amends for all the trouble.

    Similarreparation, restitution, redress, atonement, compensation

    Note
  5. 5
    nouncolloquialabbreviationclipping
    A short form of amendment. An informal word for a change made to a document.

    I fixed the typos and sent back my amends on the poster text.

    She made a quick amend to the draft before sending it.

    Note

Less common meanings

  1. 6
    verbobsoletetransitive
    To heal a sick person or cure a disease.

    Like a doctor making a sick body well again.

    The old physician claimed he could amend any fever with his herbs.

    he gave her a vomit, and conveyed a serpent, such as she conceived, into the basin; upon the sight of it she was amended.
    1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of MelancholyHere, amended means healed or cured of her sickness.
    Note
  2. 7
    verbobsoleteintransitive
    To get well again after being sick.

    Like a wilted plant standing tall again after watering.

    The child began to amend once the fever broke.

    Ay, sir; there are a crew of wretched souls That stay his cure: their malady convinces The great assay of art; but at his touch— Such sanctity hath heaven given his hand— They presently amend.
    c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”Here, amend means get well again, becoming healed of their illness.
    Note

Practice

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Origin

From Latin ēmendō, meaning "to free from faults," made from ex ("out of") and mendum ("fault"). It came into English through French.