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:
But forecasters said they could stir up rough seas and send swells toward the California coast, which already has been battered by big waves this summer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
Nikole Hannah-Jones’s essay revisits her decision to send her daughter to mostly low-income and Black public schools, ten years later.
From Slate ● Sep. 24, 2026
He says there are already commercial operators who are struggling to find outlets to send their waste, with some being sent hundreds of miles to locations in England.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
I thought about that mother as I read Nikole Hannah-Jones’s New York Times essay about her decision to send her daughter, Najya, to segregated, high-poverty public schools in Brooklyn.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
“It’s excellent, Grace. Beautifully written, insightful. I’ll send you a few notes—little things. But for the most part I’d say it’s ready to submit.”
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Ohtani came up to the plate again in the seventh inning and put Dodgers fans on the edge of their seats by sending a long fly ball to straightaway center field.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
TripNeverLeaves lets users plan a holiday before sending them on a virtual flight that never leaves the runway.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Treasury yields on Wednesday after economic data on the manufacturing front surprised to the upside, sending a shock through the world’s most important bond market.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
In an investor presentation published early Wednesday, Knife River said it expects headwinds including delayed jobs and higher fuel costs to persist through the fiscal year, sending shares down more than 7%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Once it sniffed, sending a tiny puff of smoke out of its nostrils.
From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville
The Lakers sent two unprotected first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps to the Jazz for Kessler and then signed him to a four-year, $130-million contract.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
Every four or five days, the cans had to be sent to Mumbai for processing, while the crew carried on shooting without knowing exactly what they had captured.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Xi also said that two Chinese pandas would soon be sent to the Atlanta zoo, continuing Beijing’s historic practice of gifting pandas to foreign countries as a symbol of friendship and diplomatic tool.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
That has sent some investors interested in a diversified portfolio searching for alternatives.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
“He also wants to know if you’ve sent the photograph of Ruby that he has been waiting for.”
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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.
