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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
pretend
I.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
even
▪ Some will even pretend to ignore it.
▪ I head east from Anamosa, feeling too shitty to even pretend otherwise.
▪ This does not in fact happen, but in other kinds of social system people do not even pretend that it happens.
▪ But he had grown to understand that none of them could even pretend to these things.
▪ I couldn't even pretend that I wanted them!
▪ No messing about, not even pretend messing.
never
▪ Mamet has never pretended to be a long-haul writer and sees time the way the early Elizabethans did, as a destroyer.
▪ It was a long speech, too, by a politician who never pretended that speech-making was one of his top assets.
▪ He would never pretend she was his niece!
▪ I never pretended to love her.
▪ My films never pretend to be anything but artefacts - they're unnatural, contrived, fashioned, unrealistic, on purpose.
▪ Rune had never pretended an emotional attachment to her - in fact quite the opposite!
only
▪ She knew he was only pretending for the benefit of their audience.
▪ The old woman had only pretended to be so kind; she was in reality a wicked witch.
▪ Besides, she had only pretended to take an overdose.
▪ I will tell you: because they only pretend to hate tyranny.
▪ She only pretends, to please you.
▪ The Pep Squad only pretends to be-and woe to any member who might dare to suggest otherwise.
▪ The Bride only pretends to be excited.
▪ Celestine only pretended to be asleep.
otherwise
▪ Eleanor was wrong to try and pretend otherwise.
▪ It makes people feel better to pretend otherwise.
▪ The introduction of council tax is going to hurt an awful lot of people and there is no point in pretending otherwise.
▪ Nevertheless they were two real victories, and it is childish of Bush's opponents to pretend otherwise.
▪ Though she'd never been much of a nurse and it was hypocritical to pretend otherwise.
▪ Though he found it convenient to pretend otherwise, the man was no hick care-taker.
▪ But if you are well known, it seems foolish to pretend otherwise.
▪ I knew at once that something was different, why pretend otherwise?
■ VERB
let
▪ I can't let her carry on pretending I ain't in the room.
▪ She even let me pretend it was lettuce-flavoured so that Radish could wade through this wonderland and get her paws all sticky.
▪ However, let us not pretend that there can not be a choice.
like
▪ Jagatan liked to pretend that his faculties were failing.
▪ But I like to pretend otherwise.
▪ Finding room for the extra athletes may not be as simple as the organising committee would like to pretend.
▪ They liked to pretend it was hard work and persistence.
▪ He liked to pretend that life was simple.
▪ But most of us are frightened by our emotions so we like to pretend that rationality Is normal.
stop
▪ And will you please stop pretending you care about me?
▪ Rule two, stop pretending you got engaged to my kid brother for anything but his money.
▪ The first radical lesson is to stop pretending: you are accepted!
try
▪ Meanwhile, the federalists try to pretend that this is not happening, or that it will not matter.
▪ For a time he tried to pretend, as chil-dren do with their toys.
▪ The suit removed him from what they were all trying to pretend was a normal breakfast.
▪ Eleanor was wrong to try and pretend otherwise.
▪ She tried to pretend she didn't know what he meant, but his bantering tone had been deceptive.
▪ He tried to pretend that the whole episode hadn't happened.
▪ You have accepted a compliment gracefully, without trying to pretend you don't deserve it.
▪ But they have paid a high psychological price, coping with the North by trying to pretend thatit does not exist.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Bill closed his eyes, and pretended that the war was over and that he was safe at home.
▪ He burst into the room with a toy gun in his hand, pretending to be a gangster.
▪ I pretended not to see her, and carried on walking down the street.
▪ I don't think he's asleep - I think he's just pretending.
▪ I like to drive around in my brother's BMW and pretend I'm a rich businessman.
▪ She pretended to be ill and took a day off work
▪ They got into the house by pretending they worked for the electricity company.
▪ We pretended to be students and got into the club for free.
▪ We thought that he was really hurt, but he was just pretending.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ All his waking life he pretended not to hear other voices.
▪ And they had not come, or they had sat across from him and pretended that every-thing was fine.
▪ But she was not the same as them, she could not pretend to be.
▪ I am so relieved to not be pretending anymore.
▪ Jill is on my lap, pretending to be a baby.
▪ Then the researchers just pretended to increase the lighting.
▪ We were nervous and pretended not to be, and seeing her rig made us look at each other, nodding.
II.adjective
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ We're building a pretend rocket to the moon.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Pretend

Pretend \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.

Pretend

Pretend \Pre*tend"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pretended; p. pr. & vb. n. Pretending.] [OE. pretenden to lay claim to, F. pr['e]tendre, 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.

    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.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
pretend

late 14c., "to profess, assert, maintain" (a claim, etc.), "to direct (one's) efforts," from Old French pretendre "to lay claim," from Latin praetendere "stretch in front, put forward, allege," from prae "before" (see pre-) + tendere "to stretch," from PIE root *ten- "to stretch" (see tend).\n

\nMain modern sense of "feign, put forward a false claim" is recorded from c.1400; the older sense of simply "to claim" is behind the string of royal pretenders (1690s) in English history. Meaning "to play, make believe" is recorded from 1865. In 17c. pretend also could mean "make a suit of marriage for," from a sense in French. Related: Pretended; pretending.

pretend

"fact of pretending," 1888, from children's talk, from pretend (v.). Earlier in same sense was verbal noun pretending (1640s).

Wiktionary
pretend

vb. To claim, allege, especially when falsely or as a form of deliberate deception. (from 14th c.)

WordNet
pretend
  1. n. the enactment of a pretense; "it was just pretend" [syn: make-believe]

  2. v. make believe with the intent to deceive; "He feigned that he was ill"; "He shammed a headache" [syn: feign, sham, affect, dissemble]

  3. behave unnaturally or affectedly; "She's just acting" [syn: dissemble, act]

  4. put forward a claim and assert right or possession of; "pretend the title of King"

  5. put forward, of a guess, in spite of possible refutation; "I am guessing that the price of real estate will rise again"; "I cannot pretend to say that you are wrong" [syn: guess, venture, hazard]

  6. represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like; "She makes like an actress" [syn: make, make believe]

  7. state insincerely; "He professed innocence but later admitted his guilt"; "She pretended not to have known the suicide bomber"; "She pretends to be an expert on wine" [syn: profess]

pretend

adj. imagined as in a play; "the make-believe world of theater"; "play money"; "dangling their legs in the water to catch pretend fish" [syn: make-believe]

Wikipedia
Pretend (song)

"Pretend" is a popular song, written in 1952 by Dan Belloc, Lew Douglas, Cliff Parman and Frank Levere.

The best-known recording, by Nat King Cole was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 2346. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on January 31, 1953 and lasted 20 weeks on the chart, peaking at #3. It also reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1953, just behind Frankie Laine's chart topping hit, " I Believe". Cole would later re-record the song for his 1961 album The Nat King Cole Story.

The recording by Ralph Marterie was released by Mercury Records as catalog number 70045. It reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on February 7, 1953 at #16, its only week on the chart.

The recording by Eileen Barton was released by Coral Records as catalog number 60927. It reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on March 7, 1953 at #18, its only week on the chart.

On the Cash Box charts, where all versions of the song were combined, the song reached a peak of #5 in 1953.

The song was subsequently recorded by Tab Smith, reaching #89 on the Billboard chart in 1957, and by Carl Mann (issued as catalog number 3546 by Philips International), reaching #57 on Billboard and #56 on Cash Box in 1959.

Alvin Stardust's cover version was a popular hit in the United Kingdom in 1981, when it reached number four in the UK singles chart. This cover was largely based on Carl Mann's 1959-version of this song.

Pretend (Tinashe song)

"Pretend" is a song by American singer-songwriter Tinashe. It was released as her second single from her debut album Aquarius. The song, which was produced by producer Detail, features a guest verse from Harlem-based rapper ASAP Rocky.

Pretend (album)

Pretend is the debut album by Swedish singer and songwriter Seinabo Sey, released on 23 October 2015 by Universal Sweden. It was produced by Magnus Lidehäll. The album features the singles as " Younger", "Hard Time" and "Pretend".

Usage examples of "pretend".

Could that information be used by a person pretending to be somebody who has legitimate access to the corporate network?

And more than this, read nine of these cases, which he has published, as I have just done, and observe the absolute nullity of aconite, belladonna, and bryonia, against the symptoms over which they are pretended to exert such palpable, such obvious, such astonishing influences.

In return, she spewed me some trifles with which I was well acquainted, but which I pretended to think very astonishing.

Still an actress, she pressed her handkerchief to her eyes, pretending to weep, and assuring me that I was not to doubt the truth of what she said.

But she did know, and Addis knew that she did, but they pretended otherwise.

Thus we are told that earth cannot have concrete existence without the help of some moist element--the moisture in water being the necessary adhesive--but admitting that we so find it, there is still a contradiction in pretending that any one element has a being of its own and in the same breath denying its self-coherence, making its subsistence depend upon others, and so, in reality, reducing the specific element to nothing.

Fathom, believing that now was the season for working upon her passions, while they were all in commotion, became, if possible, more assiduous than ever about the fair mourner, modelled his features into a melancholy cast, pretended to share her distress with the most emphatic sympathy, and endeavoured to keep her resentment glowing by cunning insinuations, which, though apparently designed to apologise for his friend, served only to aggravate the guilt of his perfidy and dishonour.

A gang of men, pretending to be agitators, bomb or burn every, factory and mine which attempts to start operations, and terrorize all men who want to go back to work.

This was where he could try shutting it all out and pretend he was like everyone else.

If a runner wanted to hide and develop a safe identity, pretending to be a Yale alumnus was a rotten idea, and wearing a Yale ring was a worse idea.

Halfway through the third Act, Belinda pretended to woo Lackwit, and to allow him to woo her, her true lover, Giovanni Amoroso, being concealed behind a hedge to enjoy the fun.

You have not been afraid to ignite my amorous fury, how can you expect me to believe you now, when you pretend to fear it, and when I am only asking you to let me touch a thing, which, if it be as you say, will only disgust me?

Despite pretending to be a strict judge of propriety, his own behavior is appallingly lax.

Tiarna Mac Ard pushed open the door of the tavern so that Maeve and Jenna could enter, then, as quickly, the chatter resumed again as everyone pretended not to notice that the tiarna had brought company with him.

After he heard that he was an aruspex, being a man whose mind was not without a tincture of religion, pretending that he wished to consult him on the expiation of a private portent, if he could aid him, he enticed the prophet to a conference.