Pretend

pretend
    adj 1: 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}, {pretend}]
    n 1: the enactment of a pretense; "it was just pretend" [syn:
         {make-believe}, {pretend}]
    v 1: make believe with the intent to deceive; "He feigned that
         he was ill"; "He shammed a headache" [syn: {feign}, {sham},
         {pretend}, {affect}, {dissemble}]
    2: behave unnaturally or affectedly; "She's just acting" [syn:
       {dissemble}, {pretend}, {act}]
    3: put forward a claim and assert right or possession of;
       "pretend the title of King"
    4: 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}, {pretend}, {hazard}]
    5: represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act
       like; "She makes like an actress" [syn: {make}, {pretend},
       {make believe}]
    6: 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}]
    

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.
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            Chiefs shall be grudged the part which they pretend.
                                                  --Dryden.
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   2. To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for
      something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden.
      [R.]
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            Lest that too heavenly form, pretended
            To hellish falsehood, snare them.     --Milton.
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   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.
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            This let him know,
            Lest, willfully transgressing, he pretend
            Surprisal.                            --Milton.
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   4. To intend; to design; to plot; to attempt. [Obs.]
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            Such as shall pretend
            Malicious practices against his state. --Shak.
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   5. To hold before one; to extend. [Obs.] "His target always
      over her pretended." --Spenser.
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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.
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            For to what fine he would anon pretend,
            That know I well.                     --Chaucer.
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   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.
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78 Moby Thesaurus words for "pretend":
      act, act a part, adopt, affect, aim to, allege, appropriate,
      arrogate, assume, attempt, attempt to, avow, bluff, challenge,
      claim, counterfeit, cover up, dare, dare to, dissemble,
      dissimulate, do a bit, dramatize, encroach, endeavor, fake, feign,
      four-flush, gammon, hazard, histrionize, infringe, invade,
      lay claim to, let on, let on like, make a pretense, make as if,
      make believe, make bold, make free, make like, make out,
      make out like, overact, play, play God, play a part, play a scene,
      play possum, playact, presume, pretend to, pretext, profess,
      protest too much, purport, put on, put on airs, represent, seek to,
      seize, sham, simulate, strive to, study to, take over,
      take the liberty, trespass, try, try and, try to,
      tug the heartstrings, undertake, usurp, venture, venture to,
      wear