send
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to cause, permit, or enable to go.
to send a messenger; They sent their son to college.
- Antonyms:
- receive
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to cause to be conveyed or transmitted to a destination.
to send a letter.
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to order, direct, compel, or force to go.
The president sent troops to Asia.
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to direct, propel, or deliver to a particular point, position, condition, or direction.
to send a punch to the jaw; The punch sent the fighter reeling.
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to emit, discharge, or utter (usually followed by off, out, orthrough ).
The lion sent a roar through the jungle.
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to cause to occur or befall.
The people beseeched Heaven to send peace to their war-torn village.
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Electricity.
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to transmit (a signal).
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to transmit (an electromagnetic wave or the like) in the form of pulses.
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Slang. to delight or excite.
Frank Sinatra's records used to send her.
verb (used without object)
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to dispatch a messenger, agent, message, etc.
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Electricity. to transmit a signal.
The ship's radio sends on a special band of frequencies.
verb phrase
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send out
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to distribute; issue.
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to send on the way; dispatch.
They sent out their final shipment last week.
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to order delivery.
We sent out for coffee.
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send in to cause to be dispatched or delivered to a destination.
Send in your contest entries to this station.
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send off to cause to depart or to be conveyed from oneself; dispatch; dismiss.
His teacher sent him off to the principal's office.
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send forth
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to produce; bear; yield.
plants sending forth new leaves.
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to dispatch out of a country as an export.
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to issue, as a publication.
They have sent forth a report to the stockholders.
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to emit or discharge.
The flowers sent forth a sweet odor.
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send for to request the coming or delivery of; summon.
If her temperature goes up, send for the doctor.
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send down to expel, especially from Oxford or Cambridge.
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send up
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to release or cause to go upward; let out.
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Informal. to sentence or send to prison.
He was convicted and sent up for life.
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to expose the flaws or foibles of through parody, burlesque, caricature, lampoon, or other forms of satire.
The new movie sends up merchants who commercialize Christmas.
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idioms
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send packing, to dismiss curtly; send away in disgrace.
The cashier was stealing, so we sent him packing.
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send round, to circulate or dispatch widely.
Word was sent round about his illness.
verb (used without object)
verb
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(tr) to cause or order (a person or thing) to be taken, directed, or transmitted to another place
to send a letter
she sent the salesman away
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to dispatch a request or command (for something or to do something)
he sent for a bottle of wine
he sent to his son to come home
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(tr) to direct or cause to go to a place or point
his blow sent the champion to the floor
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(tr) to bring to a state or condition
this noise will send me mad
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(tr; often foll by forth, out, etc) to cause to issue; emit
his cooking sent forth a lovely smell from the kitchen
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(tr) to cause to happen or come
misery sent by fate
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to transmit (a message) by radio, esp in the form of pulses
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slang (tr) to move to excitement or rapture
this music really sends me
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to dismiss or get rid of someone
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to dismiss or get rid of (someone) peremptorily
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of send
First recorded before 900; Middle English senden, Old English sendan; cognate with German senden, Gothic sandjan; akin to Old English sīth “journey,” sand “message, messenger”
Explanation
When you get something to end up at a destination, you send it. You can send an email, send a package, or even send a student to the dean's office. You can send a message in a letter or in an email, or you can send a rocket up into the air. You can also send a person somewhere: "My parents used to send me to camp every summer." If you kick someone out, you send them packing: "If my roommate whistles that song one more time, I swear I'll send her packing." And if you're really irritated, you might even send them flying, or knock them down.
Vocabulary lists containing send
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.
See Examples For:
She then gets a more junior colleague to send another, final, chaser on her behalf.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
If the computers found that one ballot failed the check, even if it was a mistake, the Postal Service system would reject all the ballots in the mailing and send them back to the state.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
Broadcom topped expectations with its latest quarterly financial results, but that wasn’t enough to send its stock higher.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
Bessent also joked that Canada might send mini-submarines previously used on an amusement-park ride to attack the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
“I’ve tried to send her to each of the four realms, but of course that’s not working.”
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Is there compelling evidence for sending one’s child to institutional school rather than continuing parent-directed, home-based education?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Observations from NASA's retired Kepler space telescope show that young Sun-like stars can produce enormous superflares on a daily basis, sending high-energy particles racing outward through space.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026
Five leaders among the 18 forum members will not attend this year's gathering, officials say, sending lower ranked ministers to represent them instead.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
Italy's foreign ministry said in a statement it was sending officials to Zurich "to closely follow the investigation".
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
I leap over Fern and land my front paws on Pebble’s hindquarters, sending her sprawling forward.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
A growing number of leaders have skipped this year's forum and sent lower-ranked ministers in their place.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
The ship is still conducting training exercises and hasn’t yet departed, so if it is sent to support Iran operations, it could remain in the region well into spring.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
After a tumultuous year, California lawmakers sent several important energy and environment bills to the governor’s desk in the final hours of the legislative session.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
A woman has been issued four parking fines and sent a letter from a debt collection company while she was "fighting for her life" in hospital.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
With its final strike, it had sent a fat spark onto the kindling.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.
