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Definition 2024


send_someone_packing

send someone packing

English

Verb

send someone packing

  1. (idiomatic) To expel, eject, or dismiss someone; to send away, chase off, or force out.
    • c. 1695, Dr. Robert South, "To Archbishop of Dublin" in Sermons, Vol. III:
      [T]he parliament, to their immortal honour, presently sent him packing.
    • 1849, Charlotte Brontë, Shirley, ch. 32:
      Two ladies called one day, pale and anxious, and begged earnestly, humbly, to be allowed to see Mr. Moore one instant: Mrs. Yorke hardened her heart, and sent them packing.
    • 1904, Gilbert Parker, Michel and Angele, ch. 2:
      "Monsieur, you and yours are not for me. Seek elsewhere." . . .
      "You send me packing!" he blurted out, getting red in the face.
    • 2014 June 14, Anne Marie Garcia, "Cuba ballplayers chase dreams, big bucks, overseas," Businessweek (retrieved 8 July 2014):
      [L]eague authorities sent him packing after ruling he was registered with a fake Dominican passport under circumstances that remain murky.

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See also