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. [ 1913 Webster ]

For to what fine he would anon pretend,
That know I well. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pretended; p. pr. & vb. n. Pretending. ] [ OE. pretenden to lay claim to, F. prétendre, 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 ]

n. A pretender; a claimant. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Making a false appearance; unreal; false; as, pretended friend. -- Pre*tend"ed*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. The act of pretending; pretense. [ Obs. ] Daniel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who lays claim, or asserts a title (to something); a claimant. Specifically, The pretender (Eng. Hist.), the son or the grandson of James II., the heir of the royal family of Stuart, who laid claim to the throne of Great Britain, from which the house was excluded by law. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is the shallow, unimproved intellects that are the confident pretenders to certainty. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who pretends, simulates, or feigns. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The character, right, or claim of a pretender. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. As by right or title; arrogantly; presumptuously. Collier. [ 1913 Webster ]