Such as shall pretend Malicious practices against his state.
Shak.
5. To hold before one; to extend. [Obs.] "His target always over her
pretended." Spenser.
Pre*tend", 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.
For to what fine he would anon pretend, That know I well.
Chaucer.
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.
Pre*tend"ant (?), n. A pretender; a claimant.
Pre*tend"ed, a. Making a false appearance; unreal; false; as, pretended
friend. -- Pre*tend"ed*ly, adv.
Pre*tend"ence (?), n. The act of pretending; pretense. [Obs.] Daniel.
Pre*tend"er (?), 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.
It is the shallow, unimproved intellects that are the confident
pretenders to certainty.
Glanvill.