mends
nounUS, UK /mɛndz/
Etymology From mend (noun, verb) + -s (suffix forming pluralia tantum, regular plurals of nouns, and the third-person singular indicative present tense of verbs).
› Synonym of amends.
1
Scotland Recompense; restoration or reparation, especially (Christianity) from sin.
2
Obsolete Something given as compensation.
- she has the mends in her own hands.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], line 69:
4
Northern England, Scotland Repair, restoration; also, healing, recovery.
- Derived terms
- into the mends, to the mends