depend

Verb

depend (third-person singular simple present depends, present participle depending, simple past and past participle depended)

1. (intransitive) To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition
   • We would like to go skiing, but it depends on the amount of snow.
   • Gold don't carry any curse with it. It all depends on whether or not the guy who finds it is the right guy. The way I see it, gold can be as much of a blessing as a curse1948, John Huston, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, spoken by Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart)

   Synonyms:

   hinge on, ride, pivot

2. (intransitive) To trust; to have confidence; to rely.
   • we should all be able to depend on the word or assurance of our friends
   • we depend on the mailman to come at the usual time.
3. (literary) To hang down; to be sustained by being fastened or attached to something above, especially in heraldry, where a badge, decoration, or element is suspended from another part of an achievement of arms.
   • The long rows of teeth on the bulwarks glistened in the moonlight; and like the white ivory tusks of some huge elephant, vast curving icicles depended from the bows.1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick
   • In the centre is an Imperial Crown, from which depend a Harp of gold and the Badge.1893, John Edwin Cussen (1837–1899), Handbook of Heraldry, 4th edition, London: Chatto & Windus, Piccadilly, via Internet Archive (UC Berkeley), page 247
4. (archaic) To be pending; to be undetermined or undecided.
   • a cause depending in court
   • While the Bishops Affair was depending, the King sent orders [...]1703, The History Of King William The Third. In III Parts
5. (transitive) To cause to be contingent or dependent on; to set as a necessity.
   • There he wilted, obviously depending the disposal of his person and his plight on Bradly, and expecting that to be done at once, too.1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 65