[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

pretend \pretend"\, v. t. imp.  p. p. pretended; p. pr. 
   vb. n. pretending. oe. pretenden to lay claim to, f.
   pr'etendre, 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.
      1913 webster

            chiefs shall be grudged the part which they pretend.
                                                  --dryden.
      1913 webster

   2. to hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for
      something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden.
      r.
      1913 webster

            lest that too heavenly form, pretended
            to hellish falsehood, snare them.     --milton.
      1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster

            this let him know,
            lest, willfully transgressing, he pretend
            surprisal.                            --milton.
      1913 webster

   4. to intend; to design; to plot; to attempt. obs.
      1913 webster

            such as shall pretend
            malicious practices against his state. --shak.
      1913 webster

   5. to hold before one; to extend. obs. "his target always
      over her pretended." --spenser.
      1913 webster
see also:
pretended pretending tend 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

pretending
     n : the act of giving a false appearance; "his conformity was
         only pretending" syn: pretense, pretence, simulation,
          feigning
see also:
pretense pretence simulation feigning 

Pretending >> P Words
Pretending, definition of term: Pretending
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