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Receive - 5 dictionary results

re⋅ceive

  [ri-seev] verb, -ceived, -ceiv⋅ing.
Use Receive in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to take into one's possession (something offered or delivered): to receive many gifts.
2. to have (something) bestowed, conferred, etc.: to receive an honorary degree.
3. to have delivered or brought to one: to receive a letter.
4. to get or be informed of: to receive instructions; to receive news.
5. to be burdened with; sustain: to receive a heavy load.
6. to hold, bear, or contain: The nut receives a bolt and a washer. The plaster receives the impression of the mold.
7. to take into the mind; apprehend mentally: to receive an idea.
8. to accept from another by hearing or listening: A priest received his confession.
9. to meet with; experience: to receive attention.
10. to suffer the injury of: He received a terrific blow on the forehead.
11. to be at home to (visitors): They received their neighbors on Sunday.
12. to greet or welcome (guests, visitors, etc.) upon arriving: They received us at the front door.
13. to admit (a person) to a place: The butler received him and asked him to wait in the drawing room.
14. to admit into an organization, membership, etc.: to receive someone into the group.
15. to accept as authoritative, valid, true, or approved: a principle universally received.
16. to react to in the manner specified: to receive a proposal with contempt; She received the job offer with joy.
–verb (used without object)
17. to receive something.
18. to receive visitors or guests.
19. Radio. to convert incoming electromagnetic waves into the original signal.
20. to receive the Eucharist: He receives every Sunday.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME receven < ONF receivre < L recipere, equiv. to re- re- + -cipere, comb. form of capere to take

Synonyms:
11. admit, entertain, welcome.

Antonyms:
1. give.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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re·ceive   (rĭ-sēv')   
v.   re·ceived, re·ceiv·ing, re·ceives

v.   tr.
  1. To take or acquire (something given, offered, or transmitted); get.
  2. To hear or see (information, for example): receive bad news; received a good report of the group's activities.
  3. To have (a title, for example) bestowed on oneself.
  4. To meet with; experience: receive sympathetic treatment.
  5. To have inflicted or imposed on oneself: receive a penalty.
  6. To bear the weight or force of; support: The beams receive the full weight of the walls and roof.
  7. To take or intercept the impact of (a blow, for example).
  8. To take in, hold, or contain: a tank that receives rainwater.
  9. To admit: receive new members.
  10. To greet or welcome: receive guests.
  11. To perceive or acquire mentally: receive a bad impression.
  12. To regard with approval or disapproval: essays that were received well.
  13. To listen to and acknowledge formally and authoritatively: The judge received their oath of allegiance.
v.   intr.
  1. To acquire or get something; be a recipient.
  2. To admit or welcome guests or visitors: The couple are not receiving this winter.
  3. To partake of the Eucharist.
  4. Electronics To convert incoming electromagnetic waves into visible or audible signals.
  5. Football To catch or take possession of a kicked ball.

[Middle English receiven, from Old North French receivre, from Latin recipere : re-, re- + capere, to take; see kap- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Receive

Re*ceive"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Received; p. pr. & vb. n. Receiving.] [OF. receiver, recevoir, F. recevoir, fr. L. recipere; pref. re- re- + capere to take, seize. See See Capable, Heave, and cf. Receipt, Reception, Recipe.]

1. To take, as something that is offered, given, committed, sent, paid, or the like; to accept; as, to receive money offered in payment of a debt; to receive a gift, a message, or a letter.

Receyven all in gree that God us sent. --Chaucer.

2. Hence: To gain the knowledge of; to take into the mind by assent to; to give admission to; to accept, as an opinion, notion, etc.; to embrace.

Our hearts receive your warnings. --Shak.

The idea of solidity we receives by our touch. --Locke.

3. To allow, as a custom, tradition, or the like; to give credence or acceptance to.

Many other things there be which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots. --Mark vii. 4.

4. To give admittance to; to permit to enter, as into one's house, presence, company, and the like; as, to receive a lodger, visitor, ambassador, messenger, etc.

They kindled a fire, and received us every one. --Acts xxviii. 2.

5. To admit; to take in; to hold; to contain; to have capacity fro; to be able to take in.

The brazen altar that was before the Lord was too little to receive the burnt offerings. --1 Kings viii. 64.

6. To be affected by something; to suffer; to be subjected to; as, to receive pleasure or pain; to receive a wound or a blow; to receive damage.

Against his will he can receive no harm. --Milton.

7. To take from a thief, as goods known to be stolen.

8. (Lawn Tennis) To bat back (the ball) when served.

Receiving ship, one on board of which newly recruited sailors are received, and kept till drafted for service.

Syn: To accept; take; allow; hold; retain; admit.

Usage: Receive, Accept. To receive describes simply the act of taking. To accept denotes the taking with approval, or for the purposes for which a thing is offered. Thus, we receive a letter when it comes to hand; we receive news when it reaches us; we accept a present when it is offered; we accept an invitation to dine with a friend.

Who, if we knew What we receive, would either not accept Life offered, or soon beg to lay it down. --Milton.

Receive

Re*ceive"\, v. i. 1. To receive visitors; to be at home to receive calls; as, she receives on Tuesdays.

2. (Lawn Tennis) To return, or bat back, the ball when served; as, it is your turn to receive.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Receive
Spanish: recibir,
German: erhalten,
Japanese: 受取る
More Translations »

receive 
c.1300, from O.N.Fr. receivre (O.Fr. recoivre), from L. recipere "regain, take back," from re- "back" + -cipere, comb. form of capere "to take" (see capable). Radio and television sense is attested from 1908. Receiver as a telephone apparatus is from 1877; in ref. to a radio unit it is recorded from 1891; in U.S. football sense it dates from 1897. Receptive is attested from 1547.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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