The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Pretend \Pre*tend"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pretended; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Pretending.] [OE. pretenden to lay claim to, F.
   pr['e]tendre, L. praetendere, praetentum, to stretch forward,
   pretend, simulate, assert; prae before + tendere to stretch.
   See Tend, v. t. ]
   1. To lay a claim to; to allege a title to; to claim.
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            Chiefs shall be grudged the part which they pretend.
                                                  --Dryden.
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   2. To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for
      something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden.
      [R.]
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            Lest that too heavenly form, pretended
            To hellish falsehood, snare them.     --Milton.
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   3. To hold out, or represent, falsely; to put forward, or
      offer, as true or real (something untrue or unreal); to
      show hypocritically, or for the purpose of deceiving; to
      simulate; to feign; as, to pretend friendship.
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            This let him know,
            Lest, willfully transgressing, he pretend
            Surprisal.                            --Milton.
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   4. To intend; to design; to plot; to attempt. [Obs.]
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            Such as shall pretend
            Malicious practices against his state. --Shak.
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   5. To hold before one; to extend. [Obs.] "His target always
      over her pretended." --Spenser.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

pretending
    n 1: the act of giving a false appearance; "his conformity was
         only pretending" [syn: pretense, pretence,
         pretending, simulation, feigning]