send someone packing
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to dismiss or reject someone abruptly
Literally: send someone with their pack of belongings
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Isn't it a bit barmy to send them packing while we continue to open our doors to down - and - out foreigners with hard - luck stories whose only two words of English are Social Security?
' I know, ' Cleg's big hand covered hers, ' but, for your own sake, send your cousin packing or marry him out of the way, then no - one will have room to talk. '
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “send someone packing” mean?
to dismiss or reject someone abruptly Literally: send someone with their pack of belongings
Is “send someone packing” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.