pend2 (pend)

i. [L. pendere, hang; in E. use first in ppr. (prep.) pending: see pending.] To hang, as in a balance; await settlement; impend. See pending. Great social questions now pend as to how we shall direct the overflowing charitable instincts of society so as really to help the needy and not pamper the lazy. S. Lanier, The English Novel, p. 119.