to send away for
5
3.4
- phrasal verb
- 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
Surface Forms
Morphology
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'.