0 present participle of portend
1 to be a sign that something bad is likely to happen in the future:
It was a deeply superstitious country, where earthquakes were commonly believed to portend the end of dynasties.
Placed on an enemy's head, it would have been a humiliating reference portending death as well as conversion into a loser/woman/moon.
It is certainly not my belief that there is any portending difficulty in this matter, either constitutionally or voluntarily.
It is right and proper to bear in mind the nuclear capabilities portending so many uncertainties.
Stifled because the death it was portending has taken place.
At the bottom of the composition are a scepter, a crown, and the mask of tragedy, portending the child's brilliant future.
Jung explains their crucially significant mythological content and portending influence.
Often they are used in humorous ways depicting awkward positioning or meticulous precision, or portending a character's impending death by having them prematurely fall into a drawn outline.
