- a variation of scend.
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:
“The American people don’t send people to Washington to get rich, and they deserve confidence that elected representatives are serving the people and not themselves,” he said.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
Wars send oil racing back toward $100 a barrel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Officials could be "using Brazil as an example to send a broader message about its priorities and negotiating approach," Sader told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
He transferred £5,000 that day and tried to send a further £5,000.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
“Reckless? You send souls out of Deadwood all day long, isn’t that right? Isn’t that what you do?”
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Saudi oil tankers were already choosing the longer route this week, sending oil through a pipeline across Egypt to the Mediterranean.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Plus, management reiterated that capex will increase “significantly” next year, fretting markets and sending shares 7.5% lower.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Supporters from across India are literally feeding "cockroach" education-reform protesters camped in the capital, sending a deluge of pizzas, burgers, sandwiches and tea.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
"Thank you to everyone who is not here but sending food and water," volunteer Vuyom Chabbra, 26, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
He would have to find a way to reprimand the Afterlife for sending a wandering soul so unexpectedly.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
The Office of Management and Budget sent the supplemental funding request to Congress asking for $87.6 billion — largely to fund Operation Epic Fury in Iran.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
Details of the theft only came out two years later when the country's former spy chief, Arthur Fraser, highlighted the theft in an explosive dossier that he sent to the police.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Earlier this year Anthropic sent letters to US lawmakers warning about the practice, formally accusing Chinese firms Moonshot, DeepSeek and MiniMax of industrial-scale distillation of its Claude models.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
An officer reviews the footage before issuing a flat-rated $93 citation, which is sent to the registered owner of the offending vehicle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
‘Fin-Kedinn sent runners to call a clan meet about the bear. Now they’re deciding about you too.’
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
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.