email

1 of 2

noun

ˈē-ˌmāl 

variants or e-mail

1

: a means or system for transmitting messages electronically (as between computers on a network)

communicating by email

2

a

: messages sent and received electronically through an email system

receives a lot of email

b

plural emails or e-mails : an email message

sent him an email

email

2 of 2

verb

variants or e-mail

emailed or e-mailed; emailing or e-mailing; emails or e-mails

transitive verb

1

: to send email to (someone)

She emailed her mom.

2

: to send (something) by email

I'll email the documents tomorrow.

intransitive verb

: to communicate by email

As I write this, a colleague who takes an amateur interest in tracking the weather emailed to say it would be "among the hottest days of 2019 so far, if not #1."

—Nina Metz

Examples of email in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Despite the issues, James said WaterLink officials have tried to work as much possible with residents to address concerns, communicating via email, phone and social media. — Carolyn Stein, Chicago Tribune, 18 Sep. 2026

The grammar checker in your email app is likely powered by an LLM. — Adam Clark Estes, Vox, 18 Sep. 2026

Verb

As The Wall Street Journal reported, Amanvari emailed Walker five days before his stay and asked him to postpone because the resort was under a month-long media blackout. — Teresa Mull, FOXNews.com, 5 Sep. 2026

Average airfares this autumn for domestic flights range from about $150 to $400 roundtrip, according to data emailed from Going. — Jessica Puckett, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

electronic mail

First Known Use

Noun

1979, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1983, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing email

• junk email

Rhymes for email

• airmail
• assail
• avail
• bewail
• blackmail
• cattail
• cocktail
• curtail
• derail
• detail
• dovetail
• entail

Kids Definition

email

noun

variants or e-mail

ˈē-ˌmāl 

1

: a system for sending messages between computers

2

a

: messages sent through an email system

receives a lot of email

b

: an email message

sent him an email

email verb

or e-mail

emailer

-ˌmāl-ər

noun

or e-mailer