Comic strip by Ed Stein

pretend 

1 pretend pretends pretending pretended

If you pretend that something is the case, you act in a way that is intended to make people believe that it is the case, although in fact it is not.

 I pretend that things are really okay when they're not.

 Sometimes the boy pretended to be asleep.

 I had no option but to pretend ignorance.

VB

2 pretend pretends pretending pretended

If children or adults pretend that they are doing something, they imagine that they are doing it, for example as part of a game.

 She can sunbathe and pretend she's in Spain.

 The children pretend to be different animals dancing to the music.

VB

3 pretend pretends pretending pretended

If you pretend that something is the case, you claim that it is the case.

 We do not pretend that the past six years have been without problems for us.

 Within this lecture I cannot pretend to deal adequately with dreams.

VB: with neg