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:
If you join by Aug. 14 and are among the first 100 people to complete the challenges, we’ll send you some fun stuff in the mail.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
Arcuri said “memory suppliers are rewidening” the price premium for HBM, which could send average selling prices up by about 79% from the previous year, compared to his previous estimate for a 67% increase.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
They send out signals that influence how those organs burn fuel, control blood flow and stay healthy.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
When Kimberly texted again, asking for $2,500 more, Jonathan replied that he wouldn’t send more until he knew she was safe, and he called 911.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
They were even willing to hire a substitute teacher and send her for a winter’s course at the normal school in Terre Haute.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
About a week after the city began sending the tax notices, roughly 3,800 people of the 17,000 who were sent letters started exemption applications, according to a spokesperson for the mayor’s office.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
The 7.4 magnitude quake shook several cities across Colombia's coffee-producing region and the Pacific coast, sending terrified residents racing into the street.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
But they added: "We need to have an honest conversation about who we are sending to jail as we don't have the spaces to accommodate everyone we are sending."
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Not being able to grip the bat properly eventually took a toll on his swing mechanics, sending him into an extended slump.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
A stub of a candle flickers, sending weak light across the deep scratches on his desk.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
When queried by AFP about the Washington Post report, the White House sent a statement defending the new plane's safety.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
They’ve sent Yum and Sweetgreen shares down 10% and 30%, respectively, in the past month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Jeff emailed and another sweatshirt was sent, but the correspondence between him and the band's singer, Michael Hett, continued - and it was he who suggested the couple should visit.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
That idea sent me down a rabbit hole involving real-estate agents, tiny shoebox apartments and frustrating chats with mortgage brokers.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
But she shared some of them with her friends and family, and she sent a whole bunch to a writer named Thomas Wentworth Higginson, who mentored her.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
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.
