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to send away for

to send away for

5 3.4
Ask a company or office to mail something to you
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : solicitar
  • You can send away for a catalog by filling out the request form online.
  • send away for a book
  • send away for information

Examples

  • I sent away for it just after we had our first date.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • She sent away for a catalog from the University of Washington and decided to leave her Seattle high school before graduating in order to begin college at once.

    Academic text (2002)
  • And if you need anything by mail order, I can send away for it.

  • So I sent away for it.

  • I sent away for a copy of that Life magazine with your picture on the cover.

  • "I sent away for it in a magazine," she says.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • " Helen had sent away for some recordings."

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Do you buy all these books retail, or do you send away for, like, a "shrink kit" that comes with all these volumes included?

  • In fact, I sent away for dragonfly eggs.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Now, I know I promised that the decision was yours and yours alone, but I did send away for a few catalogs just to give you a sense of your options.

How Formal

order
810 1.0
to request
1.0
to send away for
5 3.4
to purchase
760 1.8
to ask for
1.0

Surface Forms

send away for infinitive
sent away for past participle
sending away for present participle
sends away for third person singular

Morphology

send + away + for

The individual words ('send' = cause to deliver, 'away' = to another place, 'for' = for something) suggest transferring an item, so learners get a general sense of sending; however the precise procedural sense 'to request that an item be mailed to you' is a conventionalized, collocational use that is not fully predictable from the parts. Because the meaning is related to the constituents but requires familiarity with this specific phrasal-prepositional pattern, it is best classified as semi-transparent.

Etymology

Send away for comes from the old habit of writing to a shop and sending your request away so they would post an item back to you. That's why it means 'to ask for something to be mailed or delivered to you'.