archaicTo make amends or reparation for (a wrong done); to atone.

• Yee may sir, (quoth he), mend three nayes with one yee.
• Come, come, you haue bin too rough, ſomthing too rough: you muſt returne, and mend it.

regionalTo restore (someone or something) to a healthy state; to cure, to heal.

• Yearly thy Herds in vigour vvill impair; / Recruit and mend 'em vvith thy Yearly care: […]
• We have had terrible rains these two or three days. I intended to dine at lord treasurer's, but went to see lady Abercorn, who is come to town, and my lord; and I dined with them, and visited lord treasurer this evening. His porter is mending.

obsoleteTo adjust or correctly position (something; specifically (nautical), a sail).

• VVhy he vvill looke vppon his boote, and ſing: mend the Ruffe and ſing, aske queſtions and ſing, picke his teeth, and ſing: I knovv a man that had this tricke of melancholy hold a goodly Mannor for a ſong.
• [Y]our Crovvnes avvay,^([sic – meaning awry?']) / Ile mend it, and then play— […]

obsoleteTo put out (a candle).

obsoleteTo add one or more things in order to improve (something, especially wages); to supplement; also, to remedy a shortfall in (something).

• VVill you goe vvith me, vvee'll mend our dinner here?
• Roſ[alind]. […] Buy thou the Cottage, paſture, and the flocke, / And thou ſhalt haue to pay for it of vs. / Cel[ia]. And vve vvill mend thy vvages: / I like this place, and vvillingly could / VVaſte my time in it.

obsoleteTo relieve (distress); to alleviate, to ease.

obsoleteTo reform (oneself).

• [B]id the diſhoneſt man mend himſelf, if he mend, he is no longer diſhoneſt; […]

obsoleteTo improve the condition or fortune of (oneself or someone).

• [W]hatſoeuer is Nevv, is vnlooked for; And euer it mends Some, and pairs Other: […]
• I vvas born indeed in your Dominions, but your ſe[r]vice vvas hard, and your vvages ſuch as a man could not live on, for the vvages of Sin is death [Romans 6:23]; therefore vvhen I vvas come to years, I did as other conſiderate perſons do, look out, if perhaps I might mend my ſelf.

obsoleteregionalTo repair the clothes of (someone).

• "Ready?" said the old gentleman inquiringly, when his guests had been washed, mended, brushed, and brandied.
• She will tend him, nurse him, mend him; / Air his linen, dry his tears. / Bless the thoughtful fates that send him / Such a wife to soothe his years!

obsoleteTo cause (a person or animal) to gain weight; to fatten.

obsoleteChiefly with the impersonal pronoun it: to provide a benefit to (someone); to advantage, to profit.

Of an illness: to become less severe; also, of an injury or wound, or an injured body part: to get better, to heal.

• My long ſickneſſe / Of Health, and Liuing, novv begins to mend, […]
• Some days later it happened that young Heriotside was stepping home over the Lang Muir about ten at night—it being his first jaunt from home since his arm had mended.

Of a person: to become healthy again; to recover from illness.

• The queen is mending of her gout, and intends to be brought in a chair to parliament when it meets, […]
• But the fever has left him, and the doctor says he will soon mend.

archaicNow only in least said, soonest mended: to make amends or reparation.

• You are in a peck of troubles, as most men are who are free-livers, and are led astray by artful and alluring females. However, as Lady Betty says, 'the least said the soonest mended.'
• I have not let Mr. Spencer see that I have discovered his secret, I can do that or not, according to circumstances hereafter, neither have i said any thing of my discovery to Mrs. B. or Camilla. At present, 'least said soonest mended.'

To become morally improved or reformed.

• Let ſhame come vvhen it vvill, I doe not callit, / […] / Mend vvhen thou canſt, be better at thy leaſure, / I can be patient, […]
• VVe have both of us our failings that vvay, […] but it is never over-late to mend: therefore I begin, and do penance in this vvhite ſheet for vvhat is paſs'd; I hope you vvill do the like, and ſo vve may abſolve one another vvithout a Ghoſtly Father.

obsoleteChiefly used together with make: to make repairs.

• An evill pen, is that vvhich is ſouple or vveake, vvhich vvhen thou makeſt, or mendeſt, muſt haue a ſhort ſlit, and bee ſuffered to remaine great on both ſides, becauſe it is vveake; […]
• [T]he piece of woollen fabric which has been rejected by those who make or mend, and who must make or mend so cheaply that the veriest vagrant may be their customer, is formed not only into a new material, but into a material which sometimes is made into a new garment. These garments are inferior to those woven of new wool, both in look and wear; but in some articles the re-manufacture is beautiful.

obsoleteTo advance to a better state; to become less bad or faulty; to improve.

• Then would ye mend as the fletcher mends his bolt, / Or sowre ale mendeth in summer, […]
• VVhat thinke you of this foole Maluolio, doth he not mend?

obsoleteTo improve in amount or price.

obsoleteOf an error, fault, etc.: to be corrected or put right.

• Young men, whose passions are not a little unruly, give small hopes of their ever being considerable; the fire of youth will of course abate, and is a fault, if it be a fault, that mends every day; but surely, unless a man has fire in his youth, he can hardly have warmth in old age.

obsoleteFollowed by of: to recover from a bad state; to get better, to grow out of.

obsoleteOf an animal: to gain weight, to fatten.

obsoleteTo advantage, to avail, to help.