fax
Americannoun
-
faxes
plural
adjective
verb (used with object)
-
faxes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
faxed,
past participle, past
-
faxing
present participle
noun
-
Also: fax machine. short for facsimile machine
-
short for facsimile transmission
-
a message or document sent by fax
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
faxsimple
-
faxessimple
-
have faxedperfect
-
has faxedperfect
-
am faxingprogressive
-
are faxingprogressive
-
is faxingprogressive
-
have been faxingperfect progressive
-
has been faxingperfect progressive
Past
-
faxedsimple
-
had faxedperfect
-
was faxingprogressive
-
were faxingprogressive
-
had been faxingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fax
By shortening and respelling
Explanation
A fax is a machine that sends a scanned paper copy using a telephone line, and it's also what you call the document itself. When you send someone a fax, their fax machine prints it out for them. You might need to send a fax when you're signing an important document long distance: for example, a lease or loan agreement might need to be signed, scanned, and sent as a fax. The word is a verb, too: "I'll fax that to you right away." It's short for facsimile, "exact copy," from the Latin root fac simile, "make similar." The growth of the Internet means that faxes aren't used as often as they once were.
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:
“I remember being with him when he received the news through a phone call — or maybe it was a fax machine,” Elsesser says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
Hamawy had helped Abdel-Rahman translate a fax from Egypt and had been to the cleric’s apartment.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
Mr. Hockney created carpets and stained-glass windows; designed sets and costumes for ballet and opera; and made work using such unusual tools as paper pulp and a fax machine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Surrounded by Filofaxes, fax machines and VHS recorders, he shares his theory of why the first series was such a hit.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
For the next three years, businesses slowly and steadily bought more and more faxes, until, in 1987, enough people had faxes that it made sense for everyone to get a fax.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
Mobile phone reception is patchy outside cities and people are still known to use faxes!
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2025
Cyrus, who doesn’t have a fax machine handy, said she has to pick up faxes at her lawyer’s office.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2024
Regence and Premera said they do fulfill those requirements, contacting providers through email, mail, phone calls and faxes to seek updated information, including whether they are accepting new patients.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 3, 2023
They are continuing their work, communicating with the senator through the phone, memos and faxes.
From New York Times ● May 28, 2023
For the next three years, businesses slowly and steadily bought more and more faxes, until, in 1987, enough people had faxes that it made sense for everyone to get a fax.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t respond to a faxed request for comment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
I know this because every page of it was faxed to the newsroom where I worked shortly after the episode aired.
From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2025
The New York Times reported in May that it had received a set of emails, faxed from a toll-free number, in choppy Luganda, a Bantu language widely spoken in Uganda.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2024
Sichuan Trust, the Sichuan provincial government and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission did not respond to faxed and emailed requests for comment.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 12, 2024
Finally, Dad gave me the copy of the letter Margaret had faxed to him.
From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg
Footballers' agents used faxing to secure the transfer of players, although the method has been retired by the Premier League.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2022
Borat is faxing back and forth with his premier.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 24, 2020
Since then, he has twice provided Washington’s Employment Security Department proof of his identity — by faxing and uploading copies of his Social Security and identification cards.
From New York Times ● Jul. 2, 2020
It’s as easy as sending them a letter, calling them or faxing their office.
From Encyclopedia.com ● Jun. 12, 2018
Every year we spend hundreds of dollars on phone calls and letters, writing, faxing, cajoling, and bribing, trying to get out of the pilgrimage to Mommy’s tiny house in Ewing.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
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.
