What does "receive" mean?
An operation in which data is received.
Receive
/ɹɪˈsiːv/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An operation in which data is received.
- Grammar: receive is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: get, obtain, acquire, welcome.
- Useful contrasts: binary output, ceremonial decline, airdrop.
- Usage evidence: I stayed home last night to be able to receive your call.
How to use "receive"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "receive" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "receive" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "receive" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "receive" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "receive" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "get" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "receive", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An operation in which data is received.
"In the sonification of the PDE code, notes are scattered throughout a wide pitch range, and sends and receives are relatively balanced; although in the beginning of the application there are bursts of sends […]"
Verb
- 1 To be given, sent, or paid something. transitive
"He received many presents for his birthday."
- 2 convert into sounds or pictures wordnet
- 3 To take, as something that is offered; to accept. dated, transitive
"He had the offer of employment, but he would not receive it."
- 4 receive a specified treatment (abstract) wordnet
- 5 To take goods knowing them to be stolen.
Show 18 more definitions
- 6 regard favorably or with disapproval wordnet
- 7 To act as a host for guests; to give admittance to; to permit to enter, as into one's house, presence, company, etc. transitive
"to receive a lodger, visitor, ambassador, messenger, etc."
- 8 accept as true or valid wordnet
- 9 To incur (an injury). transitive
"I received a bloody nose from the collision."
- 10 bid welcome to; greet upon arrival wordnet
- 11 To allow (a custom, tradition, etc.); to give credence or acceptance to.
"For the Phariſes and all the Jewes, except they waſh their hands oft, eate not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they waſh, they eate not. And many other things there be, which they have receiued to hold, as the waſhing of cups and pots, braſen veſſels, and of tables."
- 12 partake of the Holy Eucharist sacrament wordnet
- 13 To detect a signal from a transmitter.
- 14 express willingness to have in one's home or environs wordnet
- 15 To be in a position to take possession, or hit back the ball.; To be in a position to hit back a service.
- 16 register (perceptual input) wordnet
- 17 To be in a position to take possession, or hit back the ball.; To be in a position to catch a forward pass.
- 18 go through (mental or physical states or experiences) wordnet
- 19 To accept into the mind; to understand. intransitive, transitive
"I cannot receive [translating recevoir] that manner, whereby we establish the continuance of our life."
- 20 receive as a retribution or punishment wordnet
- 21 get something; come into possession of wordnet
- 22 have or give a reception wordnet
- 23 experience as a reaction wordnet
Example
"I stayed home last night to be able to receive your call."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "receive"?
Common synonyms include: get, obtain, acquire, welcome, abide, abide by.
How do you use "receive" in a sentence?
I stayed home last night to be able to receive your call.
How do you pronounce "receive"?
Pronounced /ɹɪˈsiːv/.
Etymology
From Middle English receyven, from Old French receivre, from Latin recipere (“take back, accept, etc.”), from re- (“back”) + capiō (“to take”); see capacious. Compare conceive, deceive, perceive. Displaced native Middle English terms in -fon/-fangen (e.g. afon, anfon, afangen, underfangen, etc. "to receive" from Old English -fōn), native Middle English thiggen (“to receive”) (from Old English þiċġan), and non-native Middle English aquilen, enquilen (“to receive”) (from Old French aquillir, encueillir).