pretense, pretence, pretending, simulation, feigning
(noun) the act of giving a false appearance; “his conformity was only pretending”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
pretending (usually uncountable, plural pretendings)
The act of imagining; make-believe
pretending
present participle of pretend
Source: Wiktionary
Pre*tend", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pretended; p. pr. & vb. n. Pretending.] Etym: [OE. pretenden to lay claim to, F. prétendre, L. praetendere, praetentum, to stretch forward, pretend, simulate, assert; prae before + tendere to stretch. See Tend, v. t. ]
1. To lay a claim to; to allege a title to; to claim. Chiefs shall be grudged the part which they pretend. Dryden.
2. To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden. [R.] Lest that too heavenly form, pretended To hellish falsehood, snare them. Milton.
3. To hold out, or represent, falsely; to put forward, or offer, as true or real (something untrue or unreal); to show hypocritically, or for the purpose of deceiving; to simulate; to feign; as, to pretend friendship. This let him know, Lest, willfully transgressing, he pretend Surprisal. Milton.
4. To intend; to design; to plot; to attempt. [Obs.] Such as shall pretend Malicious practices against his state. Shak.
5. To hold before one; to extend. [Obs.] "His target always over her pretended." Spenser.
Pre*tend", v. i.
1. To put in, or make, a claim, truly or falsely; to allege a title; to lay claim to, or strive after, something; -- usually with to. "Countries that pretend to freedom." Swift. For to what fine he would anon pretend, That know I well. Chaucer.
2. To hold out the appearance of being, possessing, or performing; to profess; to make believe; to feign; to sham; as, to pretend to be asleep. "[He] pretended to drink the waters." Macaulay.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
16 November 2024
(verb) go and leave behind, either intentionally or by neglect or forgetfulness; “She left a mess when she moved out”; “His good luck finally left him”; “her husband left her after 20 years of marriage”; “she wept thinking she had been left behind”
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.
