I. ˈsend verb
( sent ˈsent ; sent ; sending ; sends )
Etymology: Middle English senden, from Old English sendan; akin to Old High German senten, sendan to send, Old Norse senda, Gothic sandjan, Old English sith journey, road, Old High German sind, Old Norse sinni, Gothic sinths going, time, Old Irish sēt road
transitive verb
1. : to cause to go by physical means or direct volition: as
a. : to propel or discharge with an aim : throw or direct in a particular direction
send an arrow
send a bullet
send a rocket to a distant planet
b. obsolete : thrust
c. : deliver
sent a blow straight to his chin
d. : drive
sent the ball between the goalposts
2.
a. : to cause to happen or come into existence : bestow or grant as a blessing : ordain or inflict as a punishment
God sends not ill — Alexander Pope
b. : to grant (as the fulfillment of a hope or a request) to a person
heaven … send me just thoughts — Charles Dickens
God send your mission may bring back peace — Sir Walter Scott
God … send your sleep is light — New York Times
3. : to dispatch by a means of communication (as the post or telegraph)
send him a letter of appreciation
send our compliments
4.
a. : to commission, direct, order, or request (as a person) to go : dispatch on an errand or as a messenger
b.
(1) : to dispatch to a specified destination for a course or term (as of residence or employment)
send a son to college
send a representative to Congress
(2) : to permit (a person) to attend a college, school, or other educational institution by paying all or part of the expenses involved
able to send both his children to boarding school
c. : to direct by advice or reference : refer to some person or authority : advise to go to some place or in some direction
sent him to the dictionary
sent him to the information desk
d. : to describe (a person) in narrative as going to a specified place
next he sends him to Paris
e. : to cause to enter the world as a gift or on a mission from God
never ceased to hope that they would be sent a child
sincerely believed he had been sent to save his people
f. : to bid to go : cause or order to depart from one : dismiss
send him home with a reprimand
send him from me
5.
a. : to force or compel to go : drive , impel
send the rebels flying
sent all the townspeople scuttling out of their houses — Laurence Critchell
b. : to cause to enter or assume a specified state : drive into a specified condition
send one mad
sent the household into a frenzy of excitement
6. : to cause to issue : give forth as a source — usually used with forth or out: as
a. : to pour out or discharge (as a liquid)
clouds sending forth long-needed rain
b. : to cause to issue in sound : utter
send forth a cry
sent out a bitter bleating
the steeples sent forth a joyous peal — T.B.Macaulay
c. : to give off or out (as heat or light) : emit
tropical flowers sent out clouds of warm perfume — Eve Langley
d. : to throw out (as nerves or stems) in the course of development
each branch and twig began to send out clusters of small buds — William Beebe
an ice cap which … sends out steep glacier tongues to the south — Valter Schytt
7. : to cause (as a person) to be carried or conducted to a destination ; especially : to consign or commit to death or a place of punishment
send a convict to the gallows
8.
a. : to cause (something) to be conveyed or transmitted by an agent to a destination (as a person or place
send flowers by wire
b. : to cause (as food or drink) to be brought or served
send in dinner
c. : to cause (as a boat or vehicle) to be made available or ready (as at a designated place or time)
asked us to send a taxi for him
9. : to transmit by directing the eyes or the attention : direct
sent an inquiring glance at his wife — Laura Krey
10. : to cause (as music or a cry) to sound through the air
visiting choirs … send their music through the pine forest — Oscar Schisgall
11. : to dispatch (a person) in a specified capacity
sent him as ambassador to France
12. : to use force or influence so as to impel : cause to go up or down
send up a rocket
sent prices down
13. : to transmit by pulsation
send a current
send blood to the lungs
14. : to strike or thrust so as to impel violently
send him sprawling
15. : to cause to move, travel, or operate usually in a specified manner
send the engines full speed ahead
16. : transmit
17. : to enthrall, delight, or excite especially by one's performance or personality
trumpet never failed to send his listeners
intransitive verb
1. : to dispatch an agent or messenger to convey a message or to do an errand : dispatch a messenger or missive
send to one to come
sent to invite her to supper — C.C.Clarke
— often used with away, off, out
send away to the manufacturer for instructions
sent off for a replacement
send out and order some coffee and doughnuts
2.
a. : to become carried forward by the impulse of a wave
the ship sends violently
b. : scend
3. : transmit
4. : to perform especially in jazz improvisation in an inspired or admirable way
Synonyms:
dispatch , forward , transmit , remit , route , ship : send is a general term meaning to cause to go toward or to reach a given destination; its varying suggestions are indicated by contexts
send an order for the supplies
send gifts to the children
send a letter by special delivery
send a murderer to the electric chair
he sent all his children to college
dispatch may suggest speed in sending and heighten notions of specific destination or cause
an ambulance and doctor can be dispatched within thirty seconds after a call for aid has been received — American Guide Series: New York City
a messenger was dispatched with a reprieve but failed to arrive before the soldier has been shot — American Guide Series: Connecticut
forward indicates a sending on or forward, usually of something stopped, delayed, or missent
forward a letter
if sent in a commercial code the censor, before passing it, decodes the message and if he considers that the message might contain a hidden meaning, the cable is never forwarded — H.O.Yardley
transmit is likely to be accompanied by an indication of the force or medium involved in sending
a disease transmitted by body lice
a message transmitted by shortwave radio
remit may mean a sending back, although this is not its most common meaning today
your account is overdue; please remit
the case was remitted to the lower court
to find himself awakened at the small inn to which he had been remitted until morning — Charles Dickens
route suggests a sending along a determined route, course, or itinerary
heavy trucks being routed over a detour avoiding the bridge
when the four railroads to the Pacific coast were completed, all freight from the West was routed through what was called the Minnesota Transfer — American Guide Series: Minnesota
mail routed to the accounting departments
ship is sometimes interchangeable with send but is likely to suggest carriage in some specific means of transport, as a ship, train, truck, or plane
she was being shipped by her father and her mother to marry the youth across the sea — Francis Hackett
ship freight by rail
orchids shipped by plane
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- send about one's business
- send for
- send in one's papers
- send packing
- send to the rightabout
- send word
II. noun
( -s )
1.
a. : the impulse of a wave by which a vessel is carried bodily
borne on the send of the sea — H.W.Longfellow
b. : scend 1
2. archaic : message
3. : an impetus or accelerating impulse