Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to send for

to send for

130 2.7
Ask someone like a doctor to come because they are needed
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : mandar llamar
  • In fact, she fully intended to send for the children as soon as she was settled in America.
  • send for a doctor

Examples

  • Once they are permanent residents, married men generally send for their wives and other family members.

    Academic text (2009)

  • As the two armies clashed, both sides sent for reinforcements.

  • Seeing that I was sick, he sent for a medicine woman.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • I assume you sent for me because somebody told you I was the best.

    Armageddon (1998)

  • The Home Secretary has sent for me; heaven only knows what I can tell him.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Can we send for your regular dental records?

    Coneheads (1993)

  • Please tell me if the girl wishes us to send for a doctor.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • As his condition worsened, they sent for a specialist from outside the capital who learned the truth.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Send for the girl!

    The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

  • If I need help with my homework, I will send for my tutor to assist me.

Synonyms

to call
vsto send for
  • Formal
∞ 2.0

To ask people to say if they are present

orders someone to come because they are needed in the situation

Antonyms

to dismiss
110 2.7

To tell people to leave a meeting or room

How Urgent

to summon
  • Formal
200 5.3
to send for
130 2.7
to call for
369 3.3
to request
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

send + for

The meaning 'to request someone to come' is related to the literal verb 'send' (cause someone/something to go) combined with the prepositional marker 'for' (indicating purpose or recipient), so a learner can often infer a sending-for-purpose reading. However, the specific sense of requesting someone to come (rather than physically sending a person or object) is somewhat conventionalized and not fully predictable from the parts, so prior exposure helps confirm the exact usage.

Etymology

The phrasal verb send for comes from the image of sending a messenger to fetch someone. You send a person for someone else to bring them, so send for came to mean 'to ask or order someone to come'.