Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Hanging over; overhanging; suspended so as to menace; imminet; threatening.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Approaching; drawing near; about to happen
  • verb Present participle of impend.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective close in time; about to occur

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin impendere ("to overhang").

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Examples

  • The long-suffering bleakness was very pronounced on Nancy's face, and when the walls of water, in impending downfall, reared above the

    CHAPTER XIII 2010

  • So he has been preparing for what he calls his impending “dirt nap.”

    Archive 2007-01-28 Bill Crider 2007

  • She called the impending contracts a sign that security gains are attracting foreign investment in Iraq.

    Monday, June 30, 2008 As'ad 2008

  • She called the impending contracts a sign that security gains are attracting foreign investment in Iraq.

    Friday, June 20, 2008 As'ad 2008

  • Even while he termed the impending situation as "grim," President Pervez Musharraf felt emboldened enough by his own declaration of the end of a 42-day State of Emergency on 15 December 2007 to declare on state television that: "The democratic process has been put back again on the rails"; a debatable proposition, with the judiciary and private broadcast media still under restraints.

    Shuja Nawaz: The J-Curve Effect in Pakistani Politics 2008

  • Luz picked up her cup and added cream to the strong brew, aware that Hector was referring to the impending arrival of the other polo students.

    The Glory Game Janet Dailey 1985

  • Luz picked up her cup and added cream to the strong brew, aware that Hector was referring to the impending arrival of the other polo students.

    The Glory Game Janet Dailey 1985

  • Luz picked up her cup and added cream to the strong brew, aware that Hector was referring to the impending arrival of the other polo students.

    The Glory Game Janet Dailey 1985

  • The long-suffering bleakness was very pronounced on Nancy's face, and when the walls of water, in impending downfall, reared above the

    Chapter 13 1914

  • But there was no question that the States at this juncture, and in spite of the dangers impending from the Spanish marriages, must have an ambassador ready to do his best to keep France from prematurely sliding into positive hostility to them.

    PG Edition of Netherlands series — Complete John Lothrop Motley 1845

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