receive
verb
re·ceive
| \ ri-ˈsēv
\
\
received;
receiving
Definition of receive
1
: to come into possession of : acquire
receive a gift
2a
: to act as a receptacle or container for
the cistern receives water from the roof
b
: to assimilate through the mind or senses
receive new ideas
4
: to accept as authoritative, true, or accurate : believe
5a
: to support the weight or pressure of : bear
b
: to take (a mark or impression) from the weight of something
some clay receives clear impressions
c
: acquire, experience
received his early schooling at home
d
: to suffer the hurt or injury of
received a broken nose
1
: to be a recipient
2
: to be at home to visitors
receives on Tuesdays
3
: to convert incoming radio waves into perceptible signals
4
: to prepare to take possession of the ball from a kick in football
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Examples of receive in a Sentence
… his stark and devastating description of Vichy collaborationism (which he based on German and American archives) was rather badly received in France …
— Stanley Hoffmann, New York Times Book Review, 1 Nov. 1981
George, white-gloved, with a gardenia in his buttonhole, stood with his mother and the Major, embowered in the big red and gold drawing room downstairs, to "receive" the guests; and, standing thus together, the trio offered a picturesque example of good looks persistent through three generations.
— Booth Tarkington, The Magnificent Ambersons, 1918
From this time the astronomer was received into familiar friendship, and partook of all their projects and pleasures: his respect kept him attentive, and the activity of Rasselas did not leave much time unengaged.
— Samuel Johnson, Rasselas, 1759
You will be charged a late fee if the electric company does not receive your payment on time.
I received a letter from her yesterday.
You will receive a discount if you spend over $100.
She received the news of his death with remarkable calmness.
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Recent Examples on the Web
Sam joins a newsroom that also has received the nation’s top reporting honors, including three Pulitzer Prizes and six additional Pulitzer Prize finalists in recent years. — George Stanley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Pulitzer winner Sam Roe adds to strength of Journal Sentinel's Wisconsin watchdog team," 22 Aug. 2019 Parks and wildlife also had received a call from a landowner in the area who was missing a goat and had seen the two lions, officials said on Twitter. — Saja Hindi, The Denver Post, "Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers kill two mountain lions near attack site of 8-year-old boy in Bailey," 22 Aug. 2019 Authors will also receive a 20% discount on fees to publish in BioMed Central and SpringerOpen open-access journals. — Gretchen Vogel, Science | AAAS, "More than 700 German research institutions strike open-access deal with Springer Nature," 22 Aug. 2019 On Wednesday, however, Dell announced that its XPS 13 was being refreshed with the Comet Lake chip, with a base price of $899, and several of its Inspiron consumer PCs, such as the Inspiron 14 5000, are also receiving Comet Lake. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Intel announces Comet Lake, a faster, 10th-gen Whiskey Lake chip for mainstream laptops," 21 Aug. 2019 Homeowners and business owners affected by the 129 disasters also received $259 million in low-interest loans from the SBA, E&E News found. — Thomas Frank, Scientific American, "Why the U.S. Disaster Agency Is Not Ready for Catastrophes," 20 Aug. 2019 Marvel also received a payout in the range of 5 percent of the co-produced films’ box office haul on the first day of their release, according to Deadline’s sources. — Alex Abad-santos, Vox, "Report: Spider-Man will leave MCU, as Marvel and Sony end their partnership," 20 Aug. 2019 The group also received testimonies from African government officials. — Yomi Kazeem, Quartz Africa, "There is increasing evidence Africans are being unfairly denied UK visas," 20 Aug. 2019 Angelo Minerva, a 25-year-old Kissimmee resident, also received the lifelong deal. — Austin Fuller, orlandosentinel.com, "‘Olive Garden’s got my back,' Orlando woman says as one of 3 Central Floridians to get pasta for life," 20 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'receive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for receive
receive
verb
English Language Learners Definition of receive
: to get or be given (something)
: to react to (something) in a specified way
formal
: to welcome (someone) in usually a formal way
See the full definition for receive in the English Language Learners Dictionary
receive
verb
re·ceive
| \ ri-ˈsēv
\
\
received;
receiving
Kids Definition of receive
1
: to take or get something that is given, paid, or sent
Did you receive the money I sent?
2
: experience entry 2
Stone Fox refused to speak with the white man because of the treatment his people had received.— John Reynolds Gardiner, Stone Fox
3
: to accept as a visitor or member : welcome
She's too ill to receive friends.
4
: to change incoming radio waves into sounds or pictures
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