Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To give over to the care of another; entrust.
- v. To turn over permanently to another's charge or to a lasting condition; commit irrevocably: "Their desponding imaginations had already consigned him to a watery grave” ( William Hickling Prescott).
- v. To deliver (merchandise, for example) for custody or sale.
- v. To set apart, as for a special use or purpose; assign. See Synonyms at commit.
- v. Obsolete To submit; consent.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- 1. To impress, as or as if with a stamp or seal.
- To give, send, or commit; relegate; make over; deliver into the possession of another or into a different state, implying subsequent fixedness or permanence: sometimes with over: as, at death the body is consigned to the grave.
- To deliver or transfer, as a charge or trust; intrust; appoint.
- In com., to transmit by carrier, in trust for sale or custody, usually implying agency in the consignee, but also used loosely of the act of transmitting by carrier to another for any purpose: as the goods were consigned to the London agent.
- To put into a certain form or commit for permanent preservation.
- To set apart; appropriate; apply.
- = Svn. Intrust, Confide, etc. See commit.
- To submit; surrender one's self; yield.
- To agree, assent, or consent.
Wiktionary
- v. To transfer to the custody of, usually for sale, transport, or safekeeping.
- v. To entrust to the care of another.
- v. To send to a final destination.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To give, transfer, or deliver, in a formal manner, as if by signing over into the possession of another, or into a different state, with the sense of fixedness in that state, or permanence of possession.
- v. To give in charge; to commit; to intrust.
- v. To send or address (by bill of lading or otherwise) to an agent or correspondent in another place, to be cared for or sold, or for the use of such correspondent.
- v. To assign; to devote; to set apart.
- v. To stamp or impress; to affect.
- v. To submit; to surrender or yield one's self.
- v. To yield consent; to agree; to acquiesce.
WordNet 3.0
- v. commit forever; commit irrevocably
- v. give over to another for care or safekeeping
- v. send to an address
Etymologies
- Middle English consignen, to certify by seal, from Old French consigner, from Latin cōnsignāre : com-, intensive pref.; see com- + signāre, to mark (from signum, mark; see sekw-1 in Indo-European roots).
Examples
“Black's 8th's definitions of "consign," "consignment," and "consignation" suggest that my previous speculation may be roughly correct ....”
“Or perhaps those who would benefit most from Imran Khan's wise suggestions are the timid little satrap/'allies' of NATO who would sooner waste their wealth, consign their sons to foreign graves and provoke generations of revenge attacks than tell a ranting yankee general at the NATO meetings to depart and leave the rest of us and themalone.”
The Guardian: Pakistan will implode if the US does not leave Afghanistan
“Because we cannot consign our nation to an open-ended recession.”
“Bobby Rush might call the bluff and dare Harry Reid et al. to consign the lone black Senator to the back of the bus.”
“Sadly, I must consign this one to the “Wait for Netflix” category, even if the small screen will diminish the imagery.”
“And now conspiring with the Olympic people to consign Leyton Orient to the dustbin.”
The Guardian: West Ham's vow to keep athletics track had Tottenham on the run
“But it seemed a pity to consign his thoughts to a scholarly journal, to be read by a few hundred fellow academics who already knew more than enough about the author of "The Lord of the Rings.”
The Washington Post: 'Tolkien Professor' brings Middle-earth to iTunes
“The film dragged the reality of the East German police state back out of the shadows, where 56 percent of Germans had preferred to consign it, according to a poll.”
The Washington Post: Egyptians may find police files not such a happy prize
“By extension, the duty of the west is to embrace the popular revolt with unalloyed exuberance and consign Mr Mubarak to the dustbin of history.”
The Guardian: Cairo protests:The west has a duty to nurture democracy | Observer editorial
“Emigration to wealthy countries is an unjust solution, because the gap in life chances between Haiti and, say, the US is just too great to consign some people to staying in Haiti.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘consign’.
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Mobying Along
looks like there's not an open Moby Dick list. So now there is.
hypos, Manhattoes, circumambulate, mole, grapnels, bowsprit, asphaltic, mazy, tranced, cataract, ungraspable, judgmatically and 227 more...
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bad memory
copper, anvil, oblique, thrust, shrine, welfare, farewell, bitter, faction, sectarian, tangible, spectacle and 132 more...

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