depend
de·pend (dĭ-pĕndʹ)intr.v. de·pend·ed, de·pend·ing, de·pends 1. To rely, especially for support or maintenance: Children must depend on their parents. 2. To place trust or confidence: You can depend on his honesty. See Synonyms at rely. 3. To be determined, conditioned, or contingent: a grade depending on the results of the final exam. 4. To have a dependence: began to depend more and more on drugs. 5. To be pending or undecided, as in a court or legislature. 6. To hang down: “And ever-living Lamps depend in Rows” (Alexander Pope). [Middle English dependen, to hang down, from Old French dependre, from Latin dēpendēre: dē-, de- + pendēre, to hang; See (s)pen- in Indo-European Roots.] Usage Note: In writing, depend is followed by on or upon when indicating condition or contingency, as in It depends on who is in charge. Omission of the preposition is typical of casual speech.
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