mismend

English

Etymology

mis- +‎ mend

Verb

mismend (third-person singular simple present mismends, present participle mismending, simple past and past participle mismended)

1. (transitive) To mend improperly; to attempt to fix without success.
   • 1856, William Arundell Harris, The Pilgrim Minstrel, and Wreck of the John, Emigrant Ship, on the Manacle Rocks, May 2nd, 1855, page x:

     A flash of something like a look of scorn darted from under the brows of the cynical Grindlines, his very nose curled with angry disapprobation, as he threw down a pen which he had been mending or mismending, and muttered — A - M - P - L - I - T - I - C - A - T - I - O - N !!

   • 1971, Nancy Anne Dyer, Tokugawa to Meiji Japan: a Resource Guide for Teachers, page 140:

     He cannot see well, mislays his glasses, and frequently mismends the nets.

   • 2010, Clive Barker, Galilee, page 80:

     They walked with an ease that bespoke strength, bespoke limbs that had never been cracked and mismended, never felt the ravages of age.