Library / English Dictionary

COMMEND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Express approval of

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "commend" is one way to...):

praise (express approval of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue commend the movie

Derivation:

commendation (a message expressing a favorable opinion)

commendation (an official award (as for bravery or service) usually given as formal public statement)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Mention as by way of greeting or to indicate friendship

Example:

Remember me to your wife

Synonyms:

commend; remember

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "commend" is one way to...):

advert; bring up; cite; mention; name; refer (make reference to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Express a good opinion of

Synonyms:

commend; recommend

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "commend" is one way to...):

praise (express approval of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They commend moving

Derivation:

commendation (a message expressing a favorable opinion)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Give to in charge

Example:

I commend my children to you

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "commend" is one way to...):

commit; confide; entrust; intrust; trust (confer a trust upon)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sense 5

Meaning:

Present as worthy of regard, kindness, or confidence

Example:

His paintings commend him to the artistic world

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "commend" is one way to...):

portray; present (represent abstractly, for example in a painting, drawing, or sculpture)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

commendation (a message expressing a favorable opinion)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Kindly, as usual—and, as usual, rather trite—she condoled with him on the pressure of business he had had all day; on the annoyance it must have been to him with that painful sprain: then she commended his patience and perseverance in going through with it.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He was more at ease than that first night at dinner, nearly a year before, and his shyness and modesty even commended him to Mrs. Morse, who was pleased at his manifest improvement.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“I commend that fact very carefully to your attention,” said Holmes to his professional colleague.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Ha, Sir John, I commend this worthy knight to your care.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Indeed, you have reason to commend her!” I returned.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I was very much pleased with what I collected to have been your behaviour on the occasion; it shewed a discretion highly to be commended.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

He had the air of congratulating himself on having brought such a woman to Highbury, as not even Miss Woodhouse could equal; and the greater part of her new acquaintance, disposed to commend, or not in the habit of judging, following the lead of Miss Bates's good-will, or taking it for granted that the bride must be as clever and as agreeable as she professed herself, were very well satisfied; so that Mrs. Elton's praise passed from one mouth to another as it ought to do, unimpeded by Miss Woodhouse, who readily continued her first contribution and talked with a good grace of her being very pleasant and very elegantly dressed.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Many stared—many smiled; but no one looked more amused than Mr. Bennet himself, while his wife seriously commended Mr. Collins for having spoken so sensibly, and observed in a half-whisper to Lady Lucas, that he was a remarkably clever, good kind of young man.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

But he had been commended for his brilliant description of the socialist meeting and had further been detailed to get a personal interview with Martin Eden, the leader of the organized menace to society.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

But I commend the idea to your mind.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)