lend itself to

present singular third person lends itself to · participle present lending itself to · participle past lent itself to · past lent itself to

1. idiomatictransitiveTo be suitable for; be amenable to.

   The belief in a romantic chaos lends itself to pessimism, but it also lends itself to absolute self-assertion.

   1916, George Santayana, Egotism in German Philosophy

   1 more example

   A secondary protective device used near Greystones consists in the planting of bent grass and sea couch grass to aid reclamation of certain areas. Unfortunately, bent grass lends itself to the formation of dunes, which are very vulnerable. Sea couch grass has proved the best so far.

   1952 May, Frank Jeffares, “Irish Railway Coastal Defence”, in Railway Magazine, page 304