The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Mend \Mend\ (m[e^]nd), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mended; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Mending.] [Abbrev. fr. amend. See Amend.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. To repair, as anything that is torn, broken, defaced,
      decayed, or the like; to restore from partial decay,
      injury, or defacement; to patch up; to put in shape or
      order again; to re-create; as, to mend a garment or a
      machine.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To alter for the better; to set right; to reform; hence,
      to quicken; as, to mend one's manners or pace.
      [1913 Webster]

            The best service they could do the state was to mend
            the lives of the persons who composed it. --Sir W.
                                                  Temple.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To help, to advance, to further; to add to.
      [1913 Webster]

            Though in some lands the grass is but short, yet it
            mends garden herbs and fruit.         --Mortimer.
      [1913 Webster]

            You mend the jewel by the wearing it. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: To improve; help; better; emend; amend; correct;
        rectify; reform.
        [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

mending
    n 1: garments that must be repaired
    2: the act of putting something in working order again [syn:
       repair, fix, fixing, fixture, mend, mending,
       reparation]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

60 Moby Thesaurus words for "mending":
   Great Leap Forward, advance, advancement, advancing, amelioration,
   ameliorative, amendment, amends, ascent, bettering, betterment,
   boost, compensation, correction, enhancement, enrichment, eugenics,
   euthenics, fixing, furtherance, headway, improvement, improving,
   lift, looking up, making right, melioration, meliorative, mend,
   on the lift, on the mend, ongoing, overhaul, overhauling, pickup,
   preferment, progress, progressing, progression, progressive,
   promotion, recompense, recovery, rectification, redress, remedy,
   repair, repairing, reparation, restoration, revival, rise,
   satisfaction, troubleshooting, upbeat, uplift, upping, upswing,
   uptrend, upward mobility