I. e ‧ mail 1 S2 W2 BrE AmE , e-mail /ˈiː meɪl/ noun
1 . [uncountable] a system that allows you to send and receive messages by computer SYN electronic mail :
It’s usually best to contact him by email.
2 . [uncountable and countable] a message that is sent from one person to another using the email system:
Send me an e-mail when you have any news.
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COLLOCATIONS (for Meanings 1 & 2)
■ verbs
▪ send (somebody) an email
Can you send me an email with all the details?
▪ get/receive an email
Within seconds, I got an email confirming the booking.
▪ read an email
It took most of the morning to read my emails.
▪ write an email
Jack spent the evening writing emails and surfing the Internet.
▪ answer/reply to an email
She did not bother replying to his email.
▪ check your email(s)
The first thing I do every morning is check my email.
▪ delete an email
I accidentally deleted your email.
▪ forward an email (=send an email you have received to someone else)
Can you please forward this email on to Chris?
▪ fire off an email informal (=send it quickly, especially because you are angry about something)
I fired off an email to the hotel, saying how disgusted I was with their level of service.
■ adjectives
▪ a group email (=one sent to several people at the same time)
Those group emails telling you who is leaving and joining the company are so boring.
■ email + NOUN
▪ an email address
What’s your email address?
▪ an email message
I can send email messages on my phone.
▪ an email attachment (=a computer file sent in an email)
Don’t open an email attachment unless you know who sent it.
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THESAURUS
▪ email a message sent using the email system:
Did you get my email?
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There were about 20 emails in my inbox that morning.
▪ message an email – used when it is obvious that you are talking about a message sent by email, rather than a message sent by some other method:
I deleted your message by mistake.
▪ attachment a document or file that is sent with an email:
You can email the photo to me as an attachment.
▪ spam unwanted email messages from advertisers:
I was getting so much spam that I changed my email address.
▪ phishing the activity of sending emails in order to trick someone into giving away information such as their bank account number or their computer password. This information is then used to get money or goods:
Yahoo announced new measures to protect users from phishing.
II. email 2 S2 W2 BrE AmE , e-mail verb [transitive]
1 . to send someone an email SYN mail :
Will you e-mail me about it?
2 . to send someone a document using email SYN mail :
Can you email me the proposal by the end of today?