errand
Americannoun
-
a short and quick trip to accomplish a specific purpose, as to buy something, deliver a package, or convey a message, often for someone else.
- Synonyms:
- chore, assignment, task, mission
-
the purpose of such a trip.
He finished his errands.
- Synonyms:
- chore, assignment, task, mission
-
a special mission or function entrusted to a messenger; commission.
noun
-
a short trip undertaken to perform a necessary task or commission (esp in the phrase run errands )
-
the purpose or object of such a trip
Etymology
Origin of errand
First recorded before 900; Middle English erande, Old English ærende; cognate with Old High German āruntī; compare Old English ār “messenger,” Gothic airus; not related to err ( def. ), errant ( def. )
Explanation
An errand is a short trip to fulfill some small business. When you’re running errands, you’re making a bunch of these all at once. The noun errand can refer to the mission of the trip itself. If the lines are always long at the bank, then banking may be your least favorite errand. If you are off on a wild goose chase, you may be out on a fool's errand. If you are taking food or clothing to someone in need, then you are on an errand of mercy.
Vocabulary lists containing errand
Beowulf vocabulary
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Chains
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Purple Hibiscus
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“We have in great part, forgotten our Errand in this Wilderness,” thundered Increase Mather, president of Harvard.
From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018
Busque founded TaskRabbit, originally called Run My Errand, in 2008.
From The Verge • Sep. 28, 2017
Perhaps his greatest music scene of all came in 1961's "The Errand Boy."
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 21, 2017
His early films as a director, such as “The Bellboy,” “The Ladies Man” and “The Errand Boy” — which he also wrote, produced and starred in — were heralded as masterpieces here in France.
From New York Times • Aug. 21, 2017
Prince returned, his Errand with John complete; he said the Boy slept & was like to live.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
