errand
a short and quick trip to accomplish a specific purpose, as to buy something, deliver a package, or convey a message, often for someone else.
the purpose of such a trip: He finished his errands.
a special mission or function entrusted to a messenger; commission.
Origin of errand
1Other words for errand
Words Nearby errand
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use errand in a sentence
If you’ve just arrived home after a walk, a work shift, or running errands, wash your hands with soap and water before you touch your mask.
Why you shouldn’t ever wear your mask around your neck | Erin Fennessy | February 11, 2021 | Popular-ScienceOther than running errands, they rarely left the house and never ate inside a restaurant during the pandemic.
Tiffany Shackelford, 46, was known as a unique, fun ‘force’ to friends, family | Dana Hedgpeth | February 11, 2021 | Washington PostThey last for 30 to 40 minutes, so they’re the perfect companion for a brisk morning walk or a quick errand.
Best hand warmers: Block the chill during your favorite winter activities | PopSci Commerce Team | February 10, 2021 | Popular-ScienceThen there’s this added thing of, when I do have energy, I can’t go out and run my errands.
What “baby bust”? New and soon-to-be parents on choosing to have kids in dark times | Chris Chafin | February 1, 2021 | VoxOnce Alvarez returns from that errand, her mother often has to head out herself, so the 17-year-old settles down to take care of the children for the rest of the afternoon.
A steady stream of Latino students was arriving on college campuses. Then the pandemic hit. | Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, Hannah Natanson, John D. Harden | January 31, 2021 | Washington Post
He demonstrated that he had the makings of a future Marine after his mother sent him on a last minute errand to a nearby deli.
Why Was My Son Killed in Fallujah—and His Murderer Set Free? | Michael Daly | January 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn the Bible angels are mostly errand boys, the word itself means "messenger."
At the start of the game he is been sent to the fantastic city of Columbia on an errand: to find a girl and have his debt cleaned.
It's a fool's errand when the general electorate is trending in favor of more government.
It is, increasingly, the received wisdom in the West that nation building is a fool's errand.
The remarkable thing was that all the hurrying people she met seemed also each of them to be on a secret and mystic errand.
Hilda Lessways | Arnold BennettA simple errand and promenade,--and yet she felt herself to be steeped in the romance of an adventure!
Hilda Lessways | Arnold BennettOne evening, rather more than a week after the marriage, Hedges had been on an errand to Calne, and was hastening home.
Elster's Folly | Mrs. Henry WoodA few words explained his errand; but the brave Englishman would hardly hear it to the end.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane PorterExcept for their sad errand, both Felipe and Aunt Ri would have experienced a keen delight in this ascent.
Ramona | Helen Hunt Jackson
British Dictionary definitions for errand
/ (ˈɛrənd) /
a short trip undertaken to perform a necessary task or commission (esp in the phrase run errands)
the purpose or object of such a trip
Origin of errand
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with errand
see fool's errand; run an errand.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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