Meanings
- Healing or recovering, as from an injury or illness.
My foot is on the mend but it still hurts to walk.
2 more examples
My stress and frustration resulted in a spastic colon and the need for weeks of medication. While on the mend, another avenue [for funding] was suggested to me - individual Jewish philanthropists.
2017, Velvel Pasternak, Behind the Music, Stories, Anecdotes, Articles and Reflections, page 44His neighbours somehow rescued him after he was shot in the face and back, and he is on the mend after life-saving surgery.
2023 October 13, Jacob Steinberg, “‘They came to slaughter us’: Spurs fan shot by Hamas damns English football’s response”, in The Guardian, →ISSN - figurativelyImproving or undergoing restoration to a previous, more favorable condition.
Our marriage went through a difficult time, but now it is on the mend.
Translations
French en voie de guérison
- en voie de guérisonHealing or recovering
Hungarian gyógyulófélben
- gyógyulófélbenHealing or recovering
Italian in via di guarigione, in netto miglioramento
- in via di guarigioneHealing or recovering
- in netto miglioramentoImproving
Cite this entry
on the mend. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20mend
“on the mend.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20mend. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “on the mend,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20mend.
Source: on the mend on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.