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# despatch

«despatch» in Mova's school dictionary: **to send it off, especially a parcel, letter or message** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

verb (despatch, despatches, despatched, despatching); noun (despatch, a despatch)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To despatch something is to send it off, especially a parcel, letter or message. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/despatch/#m1)

2) To despatch someone is to send them somewhere to do a job. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/despatch/#m2)

3) (formal) To despatch a task is to do it quickly; (old) to despatch someone can mean to kill them. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/despatch/#m3)

4) A despatch is a sending, or an official report or message, for example from a war. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/despatch/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

Despatch is a British spelling of dispatch. In shops and online orders: «your order has been despatched». In history and war stories: soldiers «mentioned in despatches» were praised in official reports. Phrases: «with despatch» (quickly), «despatch rider» (a messenger on a motorbike).

### examples

- Your parcel was despatched this morning. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/despatch/#x1)
- The ambulance was despatched to the accident. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/despatch/#x2)
- The general sent a despatch to London. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/despatch/#x3)
- She despatched her homework in ten minutes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/despatch/#x4)
- In the old story, the knight despatched the dragon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/despatch/#x5)
- Despatch riders carried messages in the war. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/despatch/#x6)
- They then despatched a herald on board of her, demanding the surrender of Medea and the Fleece. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/despatch/#x7)

### note

Same as dispatch (more common today, especially in the US). Regular verb. Plural noun: despatches. Both spellings are correct.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «despatch» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/despatch/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.