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
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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:
But PCA’s plan documents required changes to be made either by phone or through the plan’s online portal; a fax didn’t meet that standard.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
“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
When the fax of The Westfield Gazette article got to New York, the staff there loved it.
From "Frindle" by Andrew Clements
Back in December 2018, Conservative health secretary Matt Hancock banned the NHS from buying new faxes and ordered a complete phase-out by April 2020.
From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2026
Yonhap cited police as suspecting the email might have come from a person who last year allegedly sent a number of similar threatening emails and faxes while claiming to be a Japanese lawyer.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 19, 2024
Marquez-Soto was at the mercy of a haphazard process that plays out through phone calls and faxes, as smaller hospitals try to find help for patients who need medical procedures that those hospitals cannot provide.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2023
They are continuing their work, communicating with the senator through the phone, memos and faxes.
From New York Times ● May 28, 2023
He made some phone calls, sent some faxes, memorized some online maps of neighborhoods and subways—but mostly he browsed on the Net.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
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 email, the outlet said, was faxed from a North American toll-free number that also appeared in court documents.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2024
The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately answer faxed questions seeking comment on the report and its official policies toward Muslim minorities.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 21, 2023
The Keeper had found me an obliging old colonel of the Buffs, something of an amateur historian himself, who had read the relevant pages of my typescript and faxed through his suggestions.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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
All you do is load your document into the software, input the faxing information to create a cover sheet and then press send.
From Encyclopedia.com ● Feb. 5, 2018
I told him that Margaret would be faxing it to London first thing Monday morning.
From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
